Iron Man

## **Biography**

### **Early Life: 1927-**

Anthony Edward Stark was the son of wealthy industrialist and head of Stark Industries, Howard Stark, and Maria Stark. While loved unconditionally by Maria, Tony suffered from a strained relationship with his father, both due to the contrast of Tony's sensitive and reclusive nature with Howard's glorification of physical prowess and Howard's ever-increasing drinking habits, which caused him to verbally abuse Tony and suffer from mood swings. This last factor caused Tony to turn to electronics as a coping mechanism at barely five years old, as he started to believe hardware to be comprehensible and reliable, whereas people were unpredictable and hard to understand. Tony's world couldn't find order, but the things he built did.

In order to toughen his son, Howard sent Tony to boarding school at the age of seven, much to Maria's dismay. In the following years, Tony learned of discipline of body and strength of character as Howard intended, while spending his free time reading alone. At the age of thirteen, the stories of Arthurian legends opened Tony the doors to a new world of dedication to a cause greater than oneself, of chivalry, honor, and armored heroes.

After boarding school, Tony joined an undergraduate program at MIT at the age of fifteen. He would effortlessly graduate as class valedictorian with double majors in physics and engineering. When he was seventeen, Tony met Meredith McCall, his first love and, unfortunately, the daughter of Howard's greatest business rival. Their relationship didn't develop beyond being a summer love, due to the combined interference of Meredith's father and Howard. Meredith was sent to live with relatives, and Tony was scheduled to go to Europe for education, with neither being told where the other was.

The break-up was numbed by Tony's school routine at Camford(Cambridge) University in England, where he met another girl named Cassandra Gillespie. Worse luck, Cassandra was also the daughter of a rival weapons manufacturer of Howard. Their relationship and Tony's attendance to Camford(Cambridge) were both cut short by Howard, who believed the recently-established relationship to be nothing but a way for the Gillespie's to get information on Howard through Tony. Tony doubted Howard and even tried to run away with Cassandra, but she eventually admitted that while she had fallen in love with Tony, their relationship did start as a ploy of her mother.

Around this time, Tony met Dr. Ted Slaght during a symposium. The physicist became a mentor to Stark, and taught him values beyond the importance of science, like the significance of guiding the search for knowledge with an ethical compass, and carrying an open mind.

Tony's mental dexterity caused him to drift into his 20's as shiftless thrill-seeker in the search for the challenges mundane life lacked. However, he would also lose interest in the dangerous hobbies he mastered, like skiing, parachuting, and hang-gliding.

### **Death of Howard and Maria Stark**

When he was twenty-one, Tony's parents died in an alleged car crash(actually a double murder carried out by the Winter Soldier) and he inherited his father's business, Stark Industries. Within a few years, he turned it from solely a munitions firm to a multinational corporation with a range of interests covering virtually all types of contemporary scientific industry, and the leader at the cutting edge of electronics. Tony also bought the company that built the car his parents were driving when they lost their lives, hoping to fix the flaws in their brake system. He found none, which made is more suspicious.

Tony's new life as a CEO provided him with new challenges. But as the company grew bigger, his job became less exciting, and Tony fell into self-indulgence once again.

### **Becoming Iron Man: 1963-1970**

While in Communist China selling weapons to the US army, Stark was injured by a booby trap and captured by enemy forces led by Wong-Chu. Wong-Chu ordered Stark to build weapons, but Stark's injuries were dire and shrapnel was moving towards his heart. His fellow prisoner, Ho Yinsen, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose work Stark had greatly admired during college, constructed a magnetic chest plate to keep the shrapnel from reaching Stark's heart. In secret, Stark and Yinsen use the workshop to design and construct a suit of powered armor, which Stark used to escape. During the escape attempt, Yinsen sacrificed his life to save Stark's by distracting the enemy as Stark charged up. Stark took revenge on his kidnappers and rejoined the American forces, on his way meeting a wounded American Marine fighter pilot, James "Rhodey" Rhodes.

Back home, Stark discovered that the shrapnel fragment lodged in his chest could not be removed without killing him, and he was forced to wear the armor's chestplate beneath his clothes to act as a regulator for his heart. He would need to recharge the chestplate every day or else risk the shrapnel killing him. The cover story that Stark told the news media and general public was that Iron Man was his robotic personal bodyguard, and corporate mascot. Tony Stark initially intended for the suit's technology to be made public but changed his mind when he interrupted a group of thieves, and cancelled these plans. At the suggestion of his then fiancee Joanna Nivena, who was told of Tony's secret, Tony used the Iron Man armor to interfere in a terrorist plot in Forrest Hills and Iron Man became a celebrity, while Tony retained the cover of Iron Man as a bodyguard. To that end, Iron Man fought threats to his company ( Communist opponents like Black Widow, the Crimson Dynamo, and the Titanium Man), as well as independent villains like the Mandarin (who became his greatest enemy). No one suspected Stark of being Iron Man, as he cultivated a strong public image of being a rich playboy and industrialist not unlike that of Bruce Wayne. Among his friends at this point were his personal chauffeur Harold "Happy" Hogan, and secretary Virginia "Pepper" Potts—to both of whom he eventually revealed his dual identity. Meanwhile, James Rhodes found his own niche as Stark's personal pilot, ultimately revealing himself to be a man of extraordinary skill and daring in his own right. Potts and Hogan would marry with Stark's blessing.

His involvement in the Sarkhan War and Captain America's rebellion escalated, Stark reconsidered his political opinions, and the morality of manufacturing weapons for the U.S. military. Stark showed himself to be occasionally arrogant, and willing to act unethically in order to 'let the ends justify the means'. This lead to personal conflicts with the people around him, both in his civilian and superhero identities. Stark used his vast personal fortune not only to outfit his own armor, but also to develop weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D.; other technologies (e.g., Quinjets used by the Avengers); and the image inducers used by the X-Men. Eventually, Stark's heart condition was resolved with an artificial heart transplant.

Stark expanded on his armor designs and began to build his arsenal of specialized armors for particular situations such as for space travel and stealth.

Tony Stark would father a child, Tony Stark Jr, with an unknown woman in 1970.

Around the same time, Stark joined the superhero team known as the Illuminati.

### Demon in a Bottle: 1979

A military tank hurled through the air struck the wing of a passenger plane carrying Tony Stark. Stark secretly donned the Iron Man armor he carried in his briefcase, flew out of the plane, and guided it to a safe landing in the ocean. Navy ships approached and soldiers helped the passengers to safety, and brought Iron Man to an island base. They told him the tank was thrown by Namor, who was defending a resident of the island that the soldiers were trying to remove, because the island was used as a toxic waste disposal site. Iron Man confronted and fought Namor, before it was revealed that the soldiers actually belonged to the Roxxon Oil Corporation, which was secretly occupying the island to mine the vibranium it contained. Iron Man and Namor teamed up to fight and defeat the soldiers, who escaped and trigger explosives contained on the island, destroying it along with any evidence that they were ever there.

While flying home, Iron Man's armor began to malfunction, sending him flying uncontrollably through the sky and crash landing. He regained control and later tested the armor in his lab, and found nothing apparently wrong. Stark was visiting a casino with Bethany Cabe when Blizzard, the Melter, and Whiplash arrived and attempt to rob the casino's vault. Stark slipped away, donned his armor, and battled and defeated the villains. During the fight, he overheard a comment from Blizzard about "Hammer" wanting Iron Man kept alive. Stark later received and agreed to a request for Iron Man to represent his company, Stark International, at a public ceremony and meet with a foreign ambassador. At the ceremony, Iron Man's armor again malfunctioned, striking the ambassador with a repulsor blast, killing him. Iron Man told the police about the malfunction, claiming he did not intentionally kill the ambassador. Doubtful, but knowing they can't fight him, the police let him go but demand that Stark turn over his armor for inspection, and Stark complied. During this time, Stark's drinking increased significantly.

Stark met with the Avengers, agreeing to their request that Iron Man temporarily step down as their leader, and asked for and receive hand-to-hand fight training from Captain America. He then met with Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man, and asked him to sneak into the prison where Whiplash was being held to get information on the person named Hammer. Stark used the information and flew to Genovia with James Rhodes to investigate. Hammer was alerted to their presence and sent soldiers to attack them. They were both knocked unconscious; Stark was taken prisoner and Rhodes was left in public and arrested by the local police when he awoke. When Stark awakened he was confronted by Justin Hammer, who revealed that he had been responsible for Iron Man's armor malfunctions. Angered that he lost a lucrative bid to Stark International, Hammer, with the aid of scientists in his employ, took control of Iron Man's armor and forced him to kill the ambassador in an attempt to ruin the reputation of the company. Stark attempted to escape Hammer's compound by climbing over a wall, but saw that he is on a giant floating island at sea.

Hammer learned of Stark's escape and ordered the supervillains he kept in his employ to find him. The supervillains found Stark, who has found the confiscated briefcase containing his spare armor and suited up. Iron Man battled and defeats the villains, then went after Hammer. Rhodes had convinced the police of his story and the island was attacked by police helicopters. Hammer escaped and Iron Man flew into the air and crashed down, damaging the island and causing it to sink. Stark returned home and continued binge drinking, and drunkenly yelled at his butler, Edwin Jarvis. Jarvis resigned the next day.

Continuing to drink to forget his problems, Stark was confronted by Beth, who told him about her former husband, Alex, who became addicted to drugs to deal with his stress and insecurities, which ended their relationship and eventually killed him. Beth admitted that she was younger, and didn't try to understand his insecurities, but now she's grown and will not abandon Stark like she abandoned Alex. She told Stark that he was becoming his own worst enemy, and he must open up to and let his friends help him, otherwise he'll keep drinking and drinking until it kills him. Stark admitted to his drinking problem and accepted Beth's offer to help him to quit drinking and help him through withdrawal. Stark then apologized to and renewed his working relationship with Jarvis. He learned that Jarvis's mother was sick and offers to pay for her medical costs, but learned that Jarvis had sold the two shares of stock he owned in Stark International that were preventing S.H.I.E.L.D. from buying a controlling interest in his company. Stark was optimistic about the future, conquering his alcoholism and determined to retrieve the stocks and maintain control over his company.

### Doomquest: 1981

Tony Stark learned that an employee of his made illegal sales of technology to Doctor Doom. After immediately firing the employee, Stark cancelled the sale and attempted to return the payment. Doom not only refused the refund, but sent agents to seize the refused goods by force. Stark, as Iron Man, was unable to prevent the robbery and travelled to Doom's country of Latveria to recover the goods personally.

When Iron Man attacked Doctor Doom's castle, the two were flung back in time on Doom's Time Platform by his traitorous minion Hauptmann to the days of Camelot. Iron Man met and joined the forces of King Arthur, while Doom joins with Morgan le Fay to enlist her in helping wrest his mother's soul from Hell. Le Fay agreed on the condition that Doom become the general of her army of undead warriors slain by the sword Excalibur against her half-brother King Arthur. Accompanying Arthur's knights against Doom's army Iron Man defeated Le Fay, causing her to flee to another realm. Doom swore vengeance on Iron Man for this, but the two agreed to a temporary truce until Doom's time machine would pull them back to the present.

Some time later, a ruthless rival, Obadiah Stane entered the company and manipulated Stark emotionally into a serious relapse. As a result, Stark lost control of Stark International to Stane, became a homeless alcoholic vagrant and gave up his armored identity to Rhodes, who became the new Iron Man. Eventually, Stark recovered and joined a new startup, Circuits Maximus. Stark concentrated on new technological designs, including building a new set of armor as part of his recuperative therapy.

While acting as Iron Man, Rhodes participated in the Secret Wars on Battleworld in 1982.

Fully recovered. Stark regained his personal fortune, but decided against repurchasing Stark International until much later; he instead created Stark Enterprises, headquartered in Angel Grove. Obadiah Stane remained in control of Stark Enterprises, which satisfied his more sinister intentions.

### Armor Wars: 1987-1988

After Tony Stark finished a training session in order to impress a general, he returned to Stark Enterprises. Upon analyzing Force's armor, Tony discovered that the armor was based in part on his own designs, stolen before his current Iron Man armor was developed. He compiled a list of several armored criminals: Beetle, Shockwave, Doctor Doom, Stilt-Man, the Crimson Dynamo, Controller, Mauler, Professor Power, Titanium Man, the Raiders, and others. After finishing another training session, Iron Man teamed up with Scott Lang to find out who stole his designs. Tony uncovered that the Spymaster was the one who sold Tony's designs to his rival Justin Hammer. Iron Man went after the Stilt-Man, who was attempting to break into a high-rise office building. Stilt-Man was easily defeated when Iron Man chopped off one of his legs, and he rendered the armor inoperable with a "negator pack" which destroyed Stark circuitry within. A short time later, Iron Man battled the Controller whom he knocked unconscious in front of a crowd and negated his armor. Then, unable to pursue legal means to reclaim his technology, Tony planned to take out every armored warrior who was suspected of having his designs.

The Raiders invaded an Air Force plane, drawing Iron Man's attention. Iron Man defeated the Raiders using negator packs, disabling his stolen technology. Tony found out one name was missing from Hammer's database due to a glitch in the upload. Tony and Jim Rhodes ran a search of other armor-using individuals, which prompted Tony to identify the government-sponsored Stingray as the best candidate, as other known armored heroes and villains were either not advanced enough or would not use others' designs. Tony's actions drew the Avengers' attention. Tony declined the Avengers' offer of assistance, saying that his problems were personal. Iron Man travelled to the Hydro-Base, where he confronted Stingray and insisted that he be allowed to test his armor for stolen circuitry. When Stingray refused, Iron Man chased him throughout the ocean and released electricity cybernetically to incapacitate him. He then unsuccessfully attemptrf to negate Stingray's armor; Stingray's armor really was not based on Stark's designs. Due to this incident, Tony was informed that the Government wanted Iron Man to be shut down. Reluctantly, Tony announced that Iron Man's contract has been terminated.

Iron Man ruthlessly attacked the Beetle as he tried to steal exotic pieces of art. Beetle attempted to escape Iron Man's wrath, but was defeated and his armor negated. Iron Man returned to his base, where he had a talk with Hawkeye. Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. met with Tony and demanded that Iron Man be handed over to him for attacking a government agent (Stingray). Tony gave Fury Iron Man's file, having prepared a fake identity for Iron Man as 'Randall Pierce' in the event of such a scenario. Tony secretly intended to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Mandroid armors - which he also designed - to prevent their technology being replicated. He told Fury that 'Pierce' had set up a hidden base in New York and suggested Fury dispatch the Mandroids to bring Iron Man in. Tony, as Iron Man, engaged the Mandroids and disabled all five, much to Fury's dismay. Tony faked evidence to suggest that Iron Man knew about their plan because he planted a bug in their equipment. Later, Tony arranged to create a new shield for Captain America.

The Captain (which was an alias Rogers used after abandoning the Captain America persona at the time) thanked Tony for the new shield. Meanwhile, the villain Electro was defeated by the Guardsmen and was imprisoned at the Vault, though it was Rhodes who disguised himself as Electro to sneak into the Vault. Iron Man sneaked into the Vault to neutralize the Guardsmen- as with the Mandroids, he seeked to prevent others replicating their technology- but he was caught by two Guardsmen. Rhodes accidentally broke out all the prisoners at the Vault after he tricked a Guardsman who spotted him earlier. While battling a Guardsman, Iron Man caught the attention of the Captain. Rogers agreed with Tony's motives, but Rogers called his methods reckless and dangerous. While trying to save a Guardsman from dying, Iron Man violently knocked him out, rendering the Captain in a coma.

The Avengers arrived at Tony's home, where they tried to make Tony explain himself. Tony told them he found out about the armor being stolen after analyzing Force's armor. The Avengers remained hesitant to tell Tony he's off the team after he left. The Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man met with the president, who told them to defend the people of Russia after revealing that Iron Man was going to Russia, but Titanium Man disagreed, saying that Iron Man was too dangerous for anybody to handle, preferring to remain in hiding. Tony invented a modified version of the Stealth armor to sneak into Russia undetected. Iron Man went after Titanium Man, but he fought back. While Iron Man was distracted by the Crimson Dynamo, the Titanium Man's pilot donned the armor and lead a double assault on Iron Man. Iron Man defeated the Crimson Dynamo and negated his armor. Distracted, Iron Man was attacked and overwhelmed by Titanium Man. Iron Man tried to escape, but Titanium Man grabbed him. Iron Man flew up to space to try to shake Titanium Man off of him. However, Titanium Man's armor overheated, setting him on fire. The Titanium Man armor exploded, killing the pilot. Enraged, the Russian soldiers tried to attack Iron Man, but he escaped. Back at the West Coast Avengers Mansion, Hawkeye stated that Iron Man was stripped of his membership as an Avenger.

Test pilot Jack Taggert demonstrates a flight simulator to the U.S. Government. Edwin Cord, Tony's rival, tells a general to jumpstart the plan that can defeat Iron Man once and for all. Later, Jack suits up as Firepower to demonstrate the armor's power. Later that day, Firepower lures Iron Man into a trap, Iron Man having identified Firepower as the result of the name missing from Hammer's list. Iron Man blasts Firepower, but he strikes back. Iron Man struggles to fight Firepower due to his superior weaponry. In the nick of time, Iron Man escapes Firepower's wrath with the help of Rhodes. Unfortunately, Iron Man leads a final assault on Firepower. In retaliation, Firepower launches a nuclear missile at Iron Man, seemingly killing Iron Man in the process.

Tony survived the explosion, but with severe injuries. Rhodes attempts to tell Tony to fight back as Iron Man, but Tony refused, saying that the world got their wish and feeling that it was too dangerous to create new armor. Elsewhere, the U.S. Government tried to tell Cord to hand over Firepower, but Cord declined, stating that he was not done with Firepower yet, and blackmailed them by threatening to discredit them by leaking their plans about using Firepower as a means of crowd control to the public should they try any form of legal action against him. Firepower destroyed several of Stark related tech, which led Tony to believe that Firepower was behind all this. At the same time, Firepower destroyed a truck full of Stark tech, surprising Tony. Firepower revealed to Tony that Cord wanted revenge on both Tony and Iron Man for destroying Cord Industries. Angry, Tony invented another version of the Iron Man armor to combat Firepower. Days later, Firepower attacked Stark Enterprises' San Fransokyo bureau only to face off against the "new" Iron Man. After a lengthy battle, Iron Man defeated Firepower, but during the fight, Iron Man damaged Firepower's backpack, which was carrying a neutron bomb. Iron Man deceived Firepower into disabling the bomb by claiming that he could not 'rescue' him from his armor in time; however, he revealed the ruse immediately after by tearing him out of the armor. Angered by the deception, Firepower claimed that Starks 'new' bodyguard is nothing like the "other" Iron Man. That night, reflected that he would continue as Iron Man due to the dangers that only Iron Man could handle, but he soon had to give this up due to his injuries.

### The 1990's

In 1991, Tony Stark and his wife were murdered by the Winter Soldier under the orders of Hydra.

Tony Stark Jr took control of the business. He began to regulate the use of his Iron Man technology. he even designed the War Machine armor for Rhodes. He also attempted a hostile takeover of Parker Industries.

### The 2000's

In 2002, Tony Stark accepted a position as Secretary of Defense from President Bartlet. He held this position until he drunkenly threatened the ambassador of Latveria in 2005. This act led to the Avengers losing their funding and so they were forced to leave Avengers Mansion.

In 2005, a second Superhero Civil War broke out when Captain America superhero registration act. Stark Jr. became involved on the pro registration side, though he rarely participated, usually controlling an Iron Man Suit.

In 2008, Tony Stark Jr was abducted by The Ten Rings, who were founded by the late former Iron Man villain Mandarin. He was wounded by shrapnel but Dr.Darius Armin saved his life. Stark was forced to work on weapons. He would build an Iron Man armor and escape, though Dr.Armin was killed in the escape. Stark returned to the states and discovered Obadiah Stane's deception. Stark took him down. He then chose to publicly revealed his identity as Iron Man.

Among Stark's allies included were Lt.Jimmy Pierce, Ron Roth and his personal assistant and eventual wife Holly Holiday.

In 2010, Stark battled Anton Vanko.