Dormammu (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Savior of Worlds

The One

Master of the Zealots

Lord of Chaos

Cosmic Conqueror

Power bestowal

Immortality

Absolute strength

Energy projection

Cosmic/Mystic Energy Manipulation

Telekinesis

Matter Manipulation

Magic

### Goals

Conquer all existence and to merge the universe with the Dark Dimension itself with himself as the supreme ruler (failed).Kill Doctor Strange (repeatedly succeeded to no avail).

### Crimes

Attempted omnicideMurder (undone by Time Stone)

Enslavement

“ You've come to die! Your world is now my world, like all worlds! „ ~ Dormammu welcomes Strange in the Dark Dimension.

**Dormammu** is the overarching antagonist of the 2016 Marvel film *Doctor Strange*. He is a primordial inter-dimensional mystical entity and the Lord of Chaos. A godlike force of darkness who exists in the Dark Dimension and seeks to spread his malign influence to all other worlds.

He is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch in motion capture, who also played Doctor Strange in the same film, Smaug and Sauron in the *Hobbit* film trilogy, Khan Noonien Singh in *Star Trek: Into Darkness*, William Ford in *12 Years a Slave*, Shere Khan in *Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle* and The Grinch in the 2018 film of the same name.

## Biography

Dormammu is the ruler of the Dark Dimension, a place that exists beyond the passage of time, and wishes to merge all existing universes with it. Despite his sinister plans, a group of Zealots mistakenly believes that Dormammu should be allowed to merge Earth with the Dark Dimension, believing that this would eradicate time and death and would thus grant eternal life. The Zealots, led by Kaecilius, contact Dormammu who grants them strength through the powers of the Dark Dimension. He tasks Kaecilius with destroying the sanctums of magic in Hong Kong, London and New York to allow Dormammu to spread the Dark Dimension on Earth. Kaecilius succeeds to destroy the three Sanctums, creating a portal in Hong Kong through which Dormammu spreads the Dark Dimension on Earth.

However, Dr. Stephen Strange (a new member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts) reversed the time by the use of the Eye of Agamotto and the Infinity Stone inside it to undo the sanctum's destruction, and then flew into his dimension to negotiate with him. Dormammu immediately refused and quickly killed Strange by blasting him with energy, but to his confusion, Strange reappeared on the Dark Dimension surface, repeating himself confidently.

Perplexed, Dormammu killed Strange again, only to have him reappear again, repeating his intention. Stunned, Dormammu angrily demanded to know what was happening; the Doctor then revealed that he had used the Eye of Agamotto (containing the Time Stone) to create an infinite time loop, with them spending eternity together in a endless cycle, 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.

Eventually, after killing Doctor Strange multiple times to no avail, Dormammu demands to be freed from the time loop and reluctantly gives in to bargain with Strange. At this point, Strange offers a deal: Dormammu must banish himself and the Zealots from the Earth forever and never return, and Strange will break the loop to return the favor. Having no other choice, Dormammu accepted the deal, turning the Zealots and Kaecilius into Mindless Ones and dragging them into the Dark Dimension forever, and kept his own word for now, sealing the portal between the dimensions. While not confirmed, it can be implied that Dormammu honored his promise to Strange and never returned to the Earth, remaining in his own realm for all eternity.

## Personality

Dormammu appears to be a being of pure and utter malevolence, seemingly focused only on expanding his Dark Dimension realm and conquering all other worlds and dimensions of the Multiverse, in order to fuse them in as well. He takes utter delight in causing pain to others, evident of when he tried to kill Strange multiple times until he realized that he's stuck in a time loop.

Despite his ruthlessness, Dormammu is willing to honor those who make deals with him, as he reluctantly kept his end of the bargain with Strange by ending his assault on Earth and remaining in the Dark Dimension in order for Strange to break the time loop. However, he only did this not because he felt it was the right thing to do, but because he was forced to do so, therefore being dishonorable.

## Portrayal

* Dormammu is portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch (who also plays Doctor Strange) via motion capture and voice, with Cumberbatch's voice being blended with that of an unknown British actor. Cumberbatch also portrayed Smaug and Sauron in the *Hobbit* film trilogy, Khan from *Star Trek: Into Darkness*, William Prince Ford from *12 Years a Slave,* Julian Assange from the *Fifth Estate*, and Alan Turing from *The Imitation Game*. Neither Cumberbatch nor the unknown actor were credited for this role.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Mystical Entity Physiology**: Dormammu is a primordial entity comprised of eldritch mystical energies. His position as the absolute monarch of the Dark Dimension also gives him further increased mystical power.
* **Nigh-Omnipotence:** As a primordial cosmic entity Dormammu’s power is almost infinite. His cosmic power allows him to conquer entire universes.
	+ **Immortality**: Being beyond time itself, he is an immortal. It is unknown if he can actually be destroyed.
	+ **Power Bestowal**: Dormammu can bestow anyone whom directly contacted him powers. Powers that Dormammu bestowed are Immortality, which allowed to live forever; Reality Warping, ability to warp and twist the landscape of area around user, without being inside of Mirror Dimension, run on walls and ceilings while completely disregarding gravity, and enhanced one' momentum to the point where he could easily send someone flying with one's attacks even while defying gravity; and Space Shard construction, ability to shape space around user into glass-like material that also can be formed into weapons. However, it comes at the terrible price that Doctor Strange later revealed: The bestowed powers would established a bond between Dormammu himself and those whom gained the said powers, allowed him to absorb them into his Dark Dimension at will, causing them to rapidly turn into decayed, fossil like figures with glowing red symbols of the Dark Dimension on their heads. He bestowed them to Kaecilius and the Zealots in order for them to challenge the strength of the Ancient One.
	+ **Cosmic/Mystic Energy Manipulation:** Dormammu can manipulate vast sources of cosmic and mystic energy.
	+ **Energy Projection**: Dormammu can project powerful cosmic energy blasts from his mouth, these energy blasts are strong enough to kill humans immediately and even atomize the Time Stone.
	+ **Telekinesis:** Dormammu has vast telekinetic powers on a cosmic scale. He was able to effortlessly launch countless shards and spikes at Dr. Strange and even effortlessly throw a moon at him with only his mind. His telekinesis is so advanced he can manipulate matter on a molecular level.
	+ **Matter Manipulation:** Dormammu can manipulate matter on a molecular level. He can use his powerful telekinetic abilities to reconstruct matter. Dormammu does so when he reconstructs the ground Dr. Strange is standing on into large spikes to impale him.
	+ **Reality Manipulation:** Dormammu can use his vast cosmic powers to manipulate the fabric of reality. He does so when he warps the reality of worlds and universes into chaos that can merge with the dark dimension.
	+ **Portal Creation:** Dormammu can open portal to other dimensions. He uses this ability to travel the multiverse on his cosmic conquest.
* **Dimensional Lordship**: Being the absolute monarch of the Dark Dimension, he has complete molecular control over the entire dimension. Anyone who draws power from the Dark Dimension belongs to Dormammu.
	+ **Reality Warping:** Dormammu has absolute control over the Dark Dimension, likely due to being the absolute monarch of the Dark Dimension. His potent ability to manipulate reality can be seen when he killed Doctor Strange in variety of brutal ways: Summoning Crystalline shards that he hurled from nowhere or sprouting under the sorcerer's feet to impale him and summon tendrils of energy that tore him apart.
	+ **Absolute Strength**: Dormammu possesses Immeasurable levels of strength, due to his size and spacial warping abilities; shown when he manifested a massive hand to crush Dr. Strange as If he were a mere insect.

## Relationships

* Zealots - Disciples turned Victims
	+ Kaecilius
	+ Lucian †
	+ Blonde Zealot
	+ Brunette Zealot
	+ Tall Zealot †
* Mindless Ones - Servants

### Enemies

* Agamotto †
* Ancient One †
* Doctor Strange - Attempted Victim
* Wong

* Karl Mordo

## Trivia

* Rather than being wreathed in flame like in the comics, Dormammu appears to be a being of pure shadow and darkness but with bright purple eyes, although he does appear to have red "shadows" surrounding his entire body - this may in fact represent the "flames".
* Despite being the second most powerful villain in the movies, surpassed only by Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet, Dormammu is a minor character because he has far less screen time than Kaecilius and has less impact on the overall plot, making him the Bigger Bad instead of the Big Bad.
* Other than the four cosmic entities, Dormammu is the most powerful being in the MCU.
* 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.
	+ In-universe, Dormammu's physical resemblance to Strange is a form Dormammu assumed to mock Strange.
* The producers originally intended to have Tony Todd voice Dormammu as an alternative to Cumberbatch.
* Cumberbatch's voice whilst portrayed Dormammu was being blended with that of an unknown British actor.
* Dormammu was going to make a cameo in *Avengers: Endgame*, where the Ancient One demonstrates what would happen if the Infinity Stones were to be removed from her reality.