Iron Man (Anthony "Tony" Stark)

{{Marvel Character
 * PageTitle              = Anthony Stark (Earth-616)
 * Image                  = Invincible Iron Man Vol 2 2 Textless.jpg
 * ImageSize              = 300px
 * RealName               = Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark
 * CurrentAlias           = Iron Man
 * EditorialNames         = Invincible Iron Man; formerly Superior Iron Man, Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Aliases                = Actor,{{r|Tales of Suspense Vol 1 42}} Golden Gladiator,{{r|Tales of Suspense Vol 1 47}} Bullet-Head,{{r|Tales of Suspense Vol 1 54}} Golden Avenger,{{r|Tales of Suspense Vol 1 56}} Shellhead,{{r|Tales of Suspense Vol 1 56}} Armored Avenger, Tetsujin, Hogan Potts,{{r|Iron Man Vol 3 42}} Randall Pierce, Spare Parts Man,{{r|Iron Man Vol 1 196}} Cobalt Man, Crimson Dynamo, Iron Gentleman, Metal Man, Man of Iron, Tin Man, Anthony of York,{{r|Iron Man Vol 3 59}} Space-Knight,{{r|Iron Man Vol 5 6}} "Irene,"{{r|Patsy Walker: Hellcat #1}} Electro,{{r|Avengers / Invaders #9}} T,{{r|Invincible Iron Man Vol 1 515}} Master of Machines{{r|New Avengers Vol 3 2}}
 * Identity               = Public
 * Affiliation            = {{m|Stark Industries (Earth-616)|Stark Industries}} (CEO), {{M|Avengers (Earth-616)|Avengers}}; formerly {{M|Illuminati (Earth-616)|Illuminati}}, {{m|Axis (Avengers) (Earth-616)|Axis}}, {{m|Resilient (Earth-616)|Resilient}}, {{M|Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (Earth-616)|S.H.I.E.L.D.}}, {{M|Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)|Guardians of the Galaxy}}, {{M|50-State Initiative (Earth-616)|Initiative}} (leader), Pro-Registration Superhero Unit (leader), {{M|New Avengers (Earth-616)|New Avengers}}, {{M|Mighty Avengers (Earth-616)|Mighty Avengers}}, {{M|Hellfire Club (Earth-616)|Hellfire Club}}, {{M|Force Works (Earth-616)|Force Works}}, {{M|Avengers West Coast (Earth-616)|Avengers West Coast}}, United States Department of Defense, the {{M|Mighty (Earth-616)|Mighty}}, {{m|Knights of the Atomic Round Table (Earth-616)|Knights of the Atomic Round Table}}, {{m|Alcoholics Anonymous (Earth-616)|Alcoholics Anonymous}}, {{m|Damage Control (Earth-616)|Damage Control}}

Howard Stark, Sr. (paternal adoptive grandfather, deceased); Howard Anthony Stark (adoptive father, deceased); Maria Stark (adoptive mother, deceased); Arno Stark (adoptive brother); Edward Stark (adoptive uncle, deceased); Morgan Stark (adoptive cousin);
 * Relatives              = Isaac Stark (adoptive ancestor);
 * Universe               = Earth-616
 * BaseOfOperations       = Stark Island, San Francisco; formerly Troy, Tony Stark's Penthouse (New York City, New York), also has homes in Alexandria, Virginia, Seattle, Washington, and Los Angeles, California, Stark Tower (New York City, New York), Avengers Mansion (New York City, New York), Avengers Compound, Resilient HQ (Seattle, Washington)


 * Gender                 = Male
 * Height                 = 6'1"
 * Height2                = (without armor); 6'6" (including armor)
 * Weight                 = 225 lbs
 * Weight2                = (without armor); 425 lbs (including armor)
 * Eyes                   = Blue
 * Eyes2                  = (Sky-Blue or red with no visible pupils or irises when using his armor)
 * Hair                   = Black
 * UnusualFeatures        = Has a R.T. node implanted in his chest, which maintains his body functions. Glows a pale blue light.
 * CharRef                = {{c|Avengers: Roll Call #1}}


 * Citizenship            = American
 * MaritalStatus          = Single
 * Occupation             = Mechanical Engineer, Adventurer, Superhero, Inventor, Industrialist, founder of the Maria Stark Foundation, CEO of Stark Industries, president emeritus of Resilient; former liaison between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, United States Secretary of Defense, Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., CEO of Stark Enterprises, Stark Solutions, Circuits Maximus and Stark International
 * Education              = Multiple PhDs in physics, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering{{r|Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #5}}


 * Origin                 = Anthony "Tony" Stark was adopted by Howard and Maria Stark. During a conflict in Afghanistan, Stark was captured by terrorists and, with a piece of shrapnel in his heart, was about to die. Constructing a suit of iron armor that would also help with his recovery, Stark broke out of captivity and journeyed back home to the United States where he built an advanced suit of armor and become the armored superhero Iron Man.


 * PlaceOfBirth           = Long Island, New York
 * Creators               = Stan Lee; Larry Lieber; Don Heck; Jack Kirby
 * First                  = Tales of Suspense Vol 1 39


 * Quotation              = Everything I've done, everything I'll do today, everything I'll ever do, I do to protect this world. Someone once told me that with great power comes great responsibility. That's usually thought of as a lesson for children. A simple injunction to do the right thing. But there's nothing simple about it. When I put on this armor, I took on more power than any human was ever intended to have... and maybe more responsibility than my heart can truly bear. But today... I will do my job. I will protect you. No matter what it takes...
 * Speaker                = Tony Stark
 * QuoteSource            = Iron Man Vol 4 19


 * HistoryText            = See also: Expanded History

Adoption
The biological parentage of Tony Stark is unknown. He was adopted by rich industrialist Howard Stark and his wife Maria Stark after a failed attempt at gestating a healthy baby. In a desperate pursuit for the means to ensure Maria could give birth with no problems, Howard sought the help of an alien robot, the Rigellian Recorder 451.

451 agreed to help the baby survive if he could bio-engineer him, so in the future Howard's son could accelerate humanity's technological growth and help the Earth thrive against potential extraterrestial threats. According to 451, Howard's unborn son was the perfect candidate due to his father's intelligence and engineering abilities, which would be naturally passed on to the child in addition to 451's own alternations. However, as 451 genetically modified the of the baby in womb, Howard discovered the robot had hidden some sort of kill switch, that compromised the life of his son in the future. Stark developed a "biococktail" to interfere with it behind 451's back. Once the baby was born, 451 left the Earth.

In a turn of events, Howard's interference with 451's machinations caused the new born to become fatally ill. The Starks decided to keep the baby hidden in the Maria Stark Foundation Hospice and adopt a healthy son, as they couldn't conceive a new baby, to prevent 451 from discovering Howard's meddling if it ever returned to the Earth. The adopted child was Tony Stark.

Early Life
Tony Stark was enrolled in boarding school at six, where he would soon start experimenting with erector sets. He went on to be his high school valedictorian. He then joins an undergraduate program at MIT at the age of 15, where he majored in physics and electrical engineering. Double majors in physics and electrical engineering were easy for him, and he received Master's degrees in both. He drifted into his 20's and became the idle rich, shiftless, and rootless, and traipsed around the world turning into a jet set playboy adventurer. When he was 21, his parents were killed in a car crash, and he inherited his father's business, Stark Industries; within a few years he turned it into a multi-billion dollar industry complex whose chief contracts were for advanced weaponry and munitions for the U.S. government. Also buying the company that built the car and redesigned the brakes and fixed any of its future flaws.

Inventing the Iron Man Armor
Stark travelled to Afghanistan to supervise a field test for one of his weapons. During the demonstration, Stark tripped on a booby trap and a piece of shrapnel was lodged in his chest. The gravely injured Stark was taken captive by the revolutionary leader Wong-Chu, and was informed that within a week the shrapnel would penetrate his heart and kill him. Wong-Chu falsely promised Stark that if he built a powerful weapon, he would be allowed to undergo an operation to save his life. Even though Stark realized the tyrant was lying, he agreed, hoping to gain time and access to tools.

Stark was given access to a small laboratory with another captive, the renowned Asian physicist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Professor Ho Yinsen, whose work Stark admired in college. With Yinsen acting as his assistant, Stark designed and built an electrically powered suit of armor with a pacemaker-like device that enabled Stark's heart to keep beating after the shrapnel entered it, the armor was also equipped with heavy offensive weaponry.

Donning the suit, Stark connected it to its power source, an electrical generator. Lying on a table Stark was helpless until the suit was fully charged. In the least fortunate turn of events, Wong-Chu decided to check on his prisoners. Knowing that if they were found all of their work was for nothing, Yinsen decided to sacrifice his own life by distracting Wong-Chu, giving Stark the extra time he needed to charge the armored suit fully. As the Iron Man, Stark avenged Yinsen's death and scattered Wong-Chu's guerrilla troops. Then, still clad in his armor, which was necessary to keep his heart beating, Stark made his way to the jungle, trying to escape enemy territory.

James Rhodes, a pilot in the United States Marines who was stationed in Southeast Asia, had been shot down in the jungle by rockets while he was on a reconnaissance mission. Rhodes managed to land safely and was attempting to get his helicopter air-worthy when he encountered Iron Man. After Iron Man helped Rhodes fight off an attack by enemy forces, Rhodes allowed him to drain the helicopter's batteries to recharge his armor. The two tracked through the jungle together, finally discovering a hidden rocket base. Stealing an enemy helicopter, they destroyed the site and flew to the nearest American base.

Back in the United States, Stark redesigned his chest plate, which contained a pacemaker-like device, reducing the chest plate's size and weight so he could wear it under his normal clothing. Required to wear the armor's chest plate at all times to keep his heart alive and beating, Stark decided to put the rest of the armor to regular use as well.

After redesigning the entire armored suit to match the lighter chest plate, Stark made the existence of the suit public. He concealed the suit's true origin, as well as the fact that he himself had to wear the chest plate to live. Stark made it known that he would soon manufacture the suit, which he called "the human machine," for sale to be then public.

Becoming a super hero
Soon afterward, Stark donned one of his battle suits in order to prevent thieves from stealing parts from the other copies of it. This experience made him realize that the suit was too dangerous to be made available to the public. The next day Stark revealed what had happened to him in Southeast Asia to Joanna Nivena, his then fiancé. Together they attended a tennis match in Forest Hills, N.Y. that afternoon. Stark brought along his armor, which he was taking to a nearby laboratory for tests. Terrorists who threatened to kill everyone present with a bomb invaded the match. Joanna urged Stark to don the armor to stop the terrorists. Stark did so, captured the terrorists and saved the spectators by throwing himself atop the bomb. Iron Man thus publicly became a hero, and Stark had a new sense of purpose, having decided to combat evildoers as Iron Man.

Wishing to retain some degree of anonymity, Stark established the fiction that Iron Man was his paid bodyguard wearing a suit of armor that he had invented. Only his most trusted aides learned Stark and Iron Man were one and the same. One of these early confidantes was "Happy" Hogan, whom Tony hired as his chauffeur. Hogan fell in love with Tony's secretary Pepper Potts, whom Tony eventually fell in love with as well. Even though Potts reciprocated Tony's feelings, she eventually began a whirlwind romance with Hogan, which ended with the two of them getting married.

At first, Stark used his Iron Man identity mostly to combat spies, like the Actor, and criminals who threatened Stark Industries, like the Melter or Mr. Doll.

During this time, the original Crimson Dynamo attacked Stark Industries, but Tony Stark persuaded him to defect. Also, Stark faced off for the first time against the Mandarin, who would become one of his most recurring enemies.

Later, he expanded the scope of his alter ego's activities to battle any force or person who threatened the security of America or the world. Stark was instrumental in the organization and armament of the original global intelligence and law-enforcement agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D.. As Iron Man, he became a founding member of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the team of super-human champions known as the Avengers. Stark donated his Manhattan mansion to the Avengers for their exclusive use.

As an Avenger, Stark would go on to participate in many missions over the years, although he sometimes had trouble reconciling his private affairs with his responsibilities in the Avengers. With the other remaining founders after the Hulk left, he was among those who discovered the frozen form of the heroic Captain America, still frozen since World War II. He was also the Avenger who sponsored the membership of Hawkeye, a man whom he had skirmished with, after realizing his good intentions. Hawkeye was one of the new Avengers who joined when Stark and the other founders decided to take leaves of absence.

Over the years Stark constantly refined and modified the design of his armor. From a bulky, transistorized iron suit, he eventually built a relatively lightweight, integrated circuit, magnetically-polarized suit with more human-looking articulated musculature. Stark's extraordinary genius in theoretical mechanics has enabled him to keep his suit of armor state-of-the-art. Stark eventually underwent heart transplant surgery so that he was no longer obligated to wear his metallic chest plate.

For moral reasons, Stark eventually decided to stop manufacturing armaments and devoted his company to other areas of technology.

The Illuminati
In the wake of the Kree-Skrull War, Stark initiated a meeting in Wakanda with Professor X, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Namor to form a clandestine, unnamed group to devise strategy and policy regarding overarching menaces (the "Illuminati"). Stark's original goal was to create a governing body for all superheroes in the world to answer to (with him most likely being the head of that group by his mannerism during the meeting). However, the different beliefs and philosophies, besides the fact that many heroes chose to conceal their real identities, made Stark's plan impractical. Despite this, the group agreed to share vital information.

Alcoholism and a New Iron Man
In recent years Tony Stark's greatest nemesis has been alcoholism. As a wealthy socialite, alcohol had been a constant part of his life. When his company, which had changed its name from Stark Industries to Stark International, was threatened with the takeover at the same time he was experiencing oppressive personal problems, Stark began to abuse alcohol. Although he managed to recover quickly from his first serious bout, the compulsion to drink remained a constant temptation. The second time he succumbed to alcoholism, due to even more devastating personal problems than the first time, Tony Stark went on a several month binge during which he was cheated out of Stark International, had all Iron Man suits destroyed (except one), lost the leases on his various apartments, and had his personal assets frozen so that he could not touch his fortune. All of this was the result of the machinations of the mysterious entrepreneur Obadiah Stane, who took over Stark's company, renaming it Stane International.

During this time, Stark's friend James Rhodes, who had gone to work for Stark after leaving the military, assumed custody of the Iron Man armor and operated as Iron Man in his stead.

When Stark finally regained his sobriety, he joined with Rhodes and two of his friends, Morley Erwin (late of Stark International) and his sister Clytemnestra Erwin of Richmond Enterprises, to set up a new electronics firm in California named Circuits Maximus. In its brief existence, Circuits Maximus became a prestigious and successful firm.

While the armor was in his custody, Jim Rhodes became increasingly enamored with being Iron Man and, upon Stark's return to sobriety, feared that Stark would ask for it back. The cybernetic helmet had never been properly calibrated to Rhodes' brain patterns; he began to have severe headaches and his thinking was clouded. As a result Rhodes began to manifest hostility toward Stark. As part of his therapy, Stark constructed a simple suit of armor based on his original design with no intention of donning it until he felt in control of his alcoholism. When Rhodes began acting irrationally, however, Stark felt obligated to put on this crude suit of armor to prevent Rhodes from doing harm. Stark managed to subdue Rhodes and made necessary recalibrations on the cybernetics. For a brief time Stark and Rhodes used their respective suits of armor as Iron Men, although Stark did so reluctantly. At the suggestion of the West Coast Avengers chairman, Hawkeye, Stark designed and built his most sophisticated armor to date, presumably so that the Avengers could find someone to wear the suit and bolster the team's strength.

However, soon after its completion, Obadiah Stane became alarmed at Stark's steps toward recovery. Circuits Maximus was bombed, injuring Rhodes and killing Morley Erwin. Desiring vengeance, Stark donned the untested new armor and sought out Stane. Stane himself put on a suit his engineers had built using Stark's plans, and met Iron Man in battle as the Iron Monger. Losing the battle against Stark, Stane committed suicide.

Stark decided that although one is never truly cured of alcoholism, he could also not deny the responsibility of being Iron Man. He resumed his career as Iron Man, and joined the new West Coast branch of the Avengers.

Founding Stark Enterprises
Stark also managed to reclaim control of his fortune, although he decided not to claim ownership of the company formerly known as Stark International. Rather, he founded a new technological design and manufacturing company, Stark Enterprises, based in Silicon Valley in Southern California. Stark Enterprises quickly became a highly successful and innovative company.

The Armor Wars
Stark learned that an industrialist calling himself Spymaster had stolen the plans for the many secret technological innovations found in the Iron Man armor. Spymaster had then turned these plans over to Stark's most powerful and antagonistic business rival, Justin Hammer, who in turn had made them available to criminals. These criminals had then incorporated the stolen technological innovations into their own armored battle suits. Outraged that his inventions were being used for criminal activity, and even for killing, Stark determined to deprive these criminals of his secrets. He planted a computer virus in Hammer's computer system that would wipe out all traces of the plans for Stark's Iron Man technology. As Iron Man, Stark sought out and caught many criminals and others (such as the United States government's Guardsmen) who wore a battle suit utilizing his technology. He implanted devices called 'negator packs' on their armor to fuse the circuits, rendering the suit useless. With the computer records of the plans for his technology gone, presumably it could not be used in reconstructing the suits.

Iron Man accidentally killed the second Titanium Man (also known as the Gremlin) in the course of these "Armor Wars".

The United States government branded Iron Man an outlaw as a result of these and other vigilante actions, and his longtime Avengers comrade Captain America was among those opposing him. Stark publicly claimed that he had fired Iron Man in displeasure over his illegal activity. He even went so far as to create a false history for "Randall Pierce", allegedly the original Iron Man's identity, which he turned over to the government. Shortly afterward, Iron Man was apparently destroyed in combat with government forces.

In fact, however, Stark had survived. He created an even more sophisticated armored battle suit to wear as Iron Man using technology far more advanced than that which Spymaster had stolen from him. Stark continued to go into action as Iron Man, but publicly claimed that the previous Iron Man was dead and that another employee of his whose identity was being kept secret was now wearing the armored suit.

Stark Shot
Later, Kathy Dare, a former lover of his with an unstable mind, shot Stark. The gunfire severely injured Stark's spine and it appeared he could be crippled for the rest of his life, unable to walk. However he could still function normally within his Iron Man armor. A microchip device was later implanted in Stark's spine that enabled him to walk and move normally once again. This 'bio-chip' proved problematic and degenerative nerve damage occurred. This was aggravated by the attack of Kearson DeWitt, a madman who claimed Stark had stolen his father's designs. DeWitt had Stark's nervous system attacked with a techno-organic virus, but Stark was able to survive. He temporarily had to be placed in cryo-stasis, with James Rhodes taking his place as CEO. Soon after recovering, Stark was injured from feedback from a 'telepresence' system to remotely control his Iron Man armor and battle Ultimo. Stark eventually recovered after extensive rehabilitation.

Stark was forced to restructure Stark Enterprises when several of Stane's business decisions were leaked to the press. This also caused a number of other heroes to confront Iron Man, such as the Hulk regarding gamma bomb production plants.

Stark also quarreled with Rhodes over several good-intentioned but wrong decisions Jim made as CEO (such as selling off nuclear assets to a dummy company secretly operated by AIM), as well as his actions in Imaya. Rhodes was still angry Stark had lied to him about his nerve damage condition. The two briefly clashed in battle, ultimately repaired their friendship.



Frameup
Later, while under the influence of Immortus, Stark committed a number of horrible acts and was killed. Stark was temporarily replaced by a younger version of himself from another timeline. This was corrected when Franklin Richards brought him and the other heroes who sacrificed themselves against Onslaught back. When the replacement Tony Stark returned to the Marvel Universe, he was merged with the Earth-616 Tony Stark who was resurrected thanks to Franklin Richards. Shortly after returning he subjected himself to judgment by his fellow Avengers and was exonerated.

Stark declined to challenge the Fujikawa acquisition and formed a new company, Stark Solutions. Injuries from battling the Mandarin and other foes revealed a danger of long-term armor exposure. The armor's power systems and insulation were significantly redesigned to compensate. Jocasta's AI was recovered from Sunset Bain.

The Sons of Yinsen, who became worshipers of his mentor and the Iron Man technology, contacted Tony.

Sentient Armor
While fighting Whiplash during a storm, Iron Man's armor became sentient. This would be later revealed due to the Ultron Imperative. The Safe Armor developed a feeling of overprotection, and tried to replace Stark, but ultimately sacrificed itself to repair damage to its creator's heart caused during a fight.

After this experience with the Sentient Armor, Tony suffered an uncharacteristic bout of technophobia, and decided to give up being Iron Man and Tony Stark. He gave away his fortune and adopted the persona of 'Hogan Potts' and posed as a simple worker at Askew Electronics, incorporating a new alloy called S.K.I.N. into his armor designs. After a test run against the Shocker, Iron Man faced A.I.M., the Ghost, and finally Ultron, after the villain revealed his role in manipulating the Sons of Yinsen, the sentient armor, and corrupting the S.K.I.N. technology.

Stark investigated an early military armor that had been distributed to rebel forces around the world.

Temugin also made his presence felt, challenging Iron Man for the apparent death of his father, the Mandarin.

A strange alien bio-plasm was investigated in Las Vegas.

Stark infiltrated the Thunderbolts posing as the Cobalt Man.

The US military attempted to claim older model Iron Man armors. Their pretense was that Stark had not patented the technology and that he violated agreements made after the Armor Wars by continuing to adventure as Iron Man. At the same time, a new Secretary of Defense was needed. Stark vied for the position and halted a disaster involving the technology as Iron Man.

The New Avengers
The Avengers were disassembled due to the actions of an unbalanced Scarlet Witch, which led to the deaths of Ant-Man, Vision, and Hawkeye. During this crisis, Stark was manipulated by the Scarlet Witch to suddenly threatened a Latverian ambassador at a UN meeting. Additionally, Clarence Ward used a stolen armor to kill nearly all of Stark Industries' board and Rumiko Fujikawa, Stark's girlfriend. In light of the incidents, Stark resigned as secretary.

Six months later, a massive breakout was executed at the Raft. While flying around the city, Iron Man arrived at the prison to aid Captain America and other heroes gathered by chance at the location, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Matt Murdock, and the Sentry, in keeping prisoners in after a prison break. Steve believed this event, the gathering of heroes by chance to fight a common foe, was a signal that the Avengers needed to be reformed. Tony was initially reluctant to make a new team but eventually agreed. The New Avengers used the Stark Tower as their headquarters.



Extremis
Stark returned to work at a hectic pace, often sleeping in his lab. A former classmate asked for help, a super soldier project named Extremis had been given to a small terrorist group. Iron Man battled the augmented terrorist Mallen, but suffered massive injuries. Being forced to use Extremis on himself, Iron Man healed and found himself able to directly interface with technology, especially with his new armor. Going after Mallen again, Stark was forced to kill him.

Civil War
Learning of the government's plans to instigate a Superhuman Registration Act that would force costumed, super-powered individuals to reveal their identities to the government and sign on as licensed agents, Iron Man at first sought to defeat the proposal, even going to such lengths as to hire the Titanium Man to attack the hearing on the act as he testified in order to manipulate opinion in his favor. However, Tony's opinion of the Act changed, seeing it as a new means to achieve the goal that he had sought in forming the "Illuminati," and to tie the knots of friendship between humans and superheroes. Additionally, Stark believed that the enviroment of fear caused by events like Nick Fury's Secret War or the House of M was going to cause the Act to pass unconditionally, and it was better to support and diffuse it at the moment before any further events made the conditions of the superheroic community worsen.

After a disaster at Stamford, Connecticut involving the group of amateur heroes the New Warriors fighting supervillain in which over 600 people died, mostly being children from a school, the public opinion against super humans turned and fast-tracked the Act into law. The new law split the hero community in two. Tony knew that with no major representative in favor of the SHRA, the government would've applied harsh measures, and that going to the "good old days" wasn't an option. Because of that, he decided to provide a fairer path and lead the pro-Resigtration forces himself. The anti-Registration side was led by Captain America. In his first major public action as a supporter of registration, Stark again unmasked as Iron Man.

As part of his measures to deal with the anti-Registration forces, Iron Man, Yellojacket and Reed Richards created the Prison 42 in the Negative Zone, a holding facility specially designed to contain rogue super heroes, for as long as the Civil War lasted, as it was a temporary measure, because heroes could easily escape from prisons like the Raft; build a cyborg clone of Thor, and used nanobots to control the Thunderbolts as a task force to hunt down unregistered heroes.

The Pro-Registration forces proceeded to set a trap for the Anti-Registration side. They surrounded them, and Iron Man tried to reach a truce to stop fighting. However, Captain America rejected Iron Man's proposal, and attacked him, leading to a direct conflict between the two sides, during which the Thor clone malfunctioned, and killed Goliath in cold blood. Events like this led Tony to doubt himself. People like Miriam Sharpe, the mother of one of the victims of the Stamford incident, and Tony's best friend Happy Hogan would motivate him to carry on. Shortly after, Happy would be attacked by Spymaster in an attempt to get Iron Man and succumb to his injuries. He was rushed to a hospital and placed on life support, and later dying.

Prior to the events of the Civil War, Stark assisted fellow New Avenger Spider-Man and his family. Peter Parker came to regard Stark as a mentor, became his assistant, and accepted a new technologically enhanced costume from him. Stark also convinced Spider-Man to unmask and go public with his identity as well. However, Peter's feelings of being manipulated and unease about the rightness of Stark's cause grew until Stark revealed a prison for super humans he and Mister Fantastic had built in the Negative Zone. When Spider-Man attempted to escape from Stark Tower, after secrelty moving his faimily out, in order to join the Resistance, he attacked Stark, who had confronted him. However, due to Spider-Man's override of the suit given to him by Stark and some unexpected intervention by the Punisher, the web-slinger managed to escape and was now considered a traitor by Stark and the Pro-Registration side.

During an attempt to free the prisoners from Prison 42, the Anti and Pro-Registration sides clashed in combat, and were taken to NYC by Cloak. Eventually, Captain America would realize the conflict was being tackled the wrong way, and surrendered. The Anti-Registration side was granted amnesty, with Cap agreeing to go on trial for his actions during the "Civil War".

However, while in custody, Captain America was killed in an assassination orchestrated by the Red Skull. Stark was devastated by his friend's death, and left unsure on how to proceed. In a letter Steve had written before his death, he asked Tony to insure that the Captain America legacy lived on and to look out for Bucky Barnes. Tony was instrumental in getting Bucky to assume the mantle of Captain America.



Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
During the Civil War, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill suggested that Tony might become the next acting head of S.H.I.E.L.D. She cited his higher qualification than her, and the fact that it would "piss the right people off." After the dust settled, Stark was apointed with the position of Director.

Iron Man and the other Illuminati were responsible for exiling Hulk from Earth, and were the people Hulk sought revenge on when he returned. Luckily, Stark saw this possibility as an eventuality, and was prepared to engage the Hulk with a brand new Hulk-Buster armor. The battle between them destroyed most of New York City, and blows were thrown so powerful that no other hero could get close enough to help or act. Stark Tower collapsed on top of the two during the battle, and ultimately, Hulk took Tony captive to the Stadium with the rest of his captured heroes. Once all of Stark's sources (and comrades) were exhausted, he rendered the Hulk (who had been weakened from his fight with the Sentry) unconscious with orbiting military satellite lasers he helped install in his appointing as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. He had to draw money from numerous sources (most notably S.H.I.E.L.D itself) to repair Avengers Tower and the several damaged buildings and structures of New York.

As Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man investigated the death of Nebraska Initiative member, Gadget and stumbled upon her investigation of hundreds of missing persons. Realizing that Stark was a danger to his work with Prometheus Gentech, Inc. in creating a new super-soldier, Secretary of Defense Jack Kooning had him depowered from his Extremis Armor and placed on leave for mental strain. Stark secretly returned to Nebraska and with the help of Leonard Samson and Captain Ultra discovered that Prometheus Gentech was using the missing persons as test subjects for the Extremis virus and that Maya Hansen was unwittingly working for a reborn Mandarin to create an aerosolized version of the virus which he intended on unleashing to create a race of super-humans. Iron Man, forced to use outdated armor, confronted the Mandarin and a cadre of Extremis-enhanced combatants at the Prometheus laboratories. He ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to take out the complex with a miniature warhead contained within the gravitational pull of a black hole, thus limiting the damage just to the laboratory, as he tried to escape the event perimeter. Mandarin escaped to China with Maya Hansen and pretended to be Tony Stark and convinced her to give him the sequence for the aerosolized virus. Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. were taken into custody by the Commission on Superhuman Activities for their release of the nuclear device in Nebraska. Stark's main witness, Jack Kooning escaped to Myanmar and enlisted the help of Xang "King" Kong in tracking down the Mandarin, but was killed by him before he could take him out with a sniper rifle. Stark is convicted, but Dugan orchestrated an attack on the United Nations over which S.H.I.E.L.D. has jurisdiction as a distraction for Stark to escape and to track the Mandarin to China. In defeating the Mandarin, Stark is forced to cut off part of his foot to remove the Extremis armor dampener but was able to redirect the virus-containing rockets by sending them to an extremely high altitude and killing the virus. Having saved the day, he was cleared of all charges and reinstated as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

When Thor returned he learned of the events of the superhero-registration "Civil War" and was angered that Iron Man had waged war on the heroes who had been their friends and that Stark and others used his DNA to create the Thor Clone without his knowledge or permission. Tony began to fight Thor but it became obvious he could not win, as Thor revealed that Stark had only ever seen him use a fraction of his full strength. Seeking a compromise, Stark rationalized that Asgard could be considered a foreign embassy, with diplomatic immunity granted to its inhabitants. Thor deemed this acceptable and the fighting stopped, but when Stark asked how he was supposed to get back to S.H.I.E.L.D. with his armor ruined, Thor bluntly suggested that he walk.

Tony came to the remains of the X-Mansion to talk with Cyclops. He informed the former X-Men leader that the government was pushing to get the X-Men registered. Scott told him there were no more X-Men and that they were going to be registered for being born.

During the Skrull Invasion Stark's armor was infected by an alien cyber virus which ultimately purged him of the Extremis virus. Stark discovered Spider-Woman herself was the Skrull Queen Veranke who nearly deceived him to join ranks with her. He was saved by Ms. Marvel who upon Tony's request left him with Black Widow who acted as his defense until he could fix his damaged armor to a point to where it was fully functional. Tony led the heroes of New York against the Skrull invaders. His armor however, began to fail in midst of the battle forcing him to return to Avengers Tower for another one. The President of the United States was less than reasonable regarding Stark's action and ultimately removed Stark as director of S.H.I.E.L.D, and disbanded the entire agency itself. Although the battle against the alien invasion had been won, Tony suffered a great loss. His technology was non-functional, his corporations were in dismay, he had many new enemies, and little to no allies willing to help him with any of his problems.

Dark Reign
After the invasion, the U.S. government also disbanded the Avengers, handing control of the Initiative over to Norman Osborn. Iron Man was later a member of Henry Pym's Mighty Avengers. Before fighting the threat of Chthon, Iron Man helped to subdue the Hulk. He left the team after realizing he was not yet ready to be a part of it.

With his Extremis powers failing, Stark was able to upload a virus that destroyed all records of the Registration Act, thus preventing Osborn from learning the identities of his fellow heroes. The only copy of this database remained in Stark's head, while he was now on the run in one of his extra armors, and his remaining armors in Stark Tower were now in Osborn's hands. Iron Man managed to gain a new armor and fought Namor in the Stark Undersea Base. Stark was able to outsmart the Atlantean and escape the collapsing base. Osborn then placed a bounty on Stark's head, offering mountains of gold to the Hood's gang. The members of the secret organization the Cabal gathered to discuss many issues, among which was the hunt for Stark. Stark was losing intelligence by the day which slowed his thinking time and caused him to not be able to pronounce difficult words correctly. He started gathering and assembling parts to make his Iron Man suit easier to navigate and control as it was becoming more and more difficult for him to do so. He later abandoned it for the Dynamo Armor, which he borrowed from Dimitri Bukharin. Tony was later tracked down by Pepper but the two were captured by Madame Masque.

He managed to escape with Pepper's help, but was forced to leave her behind so she could fend off Masque. He then made his way to Afghanistan, but before he could reach his destination, he was shot down by Afghani militants. With his armor destroyed, Tony was forced to abandon it and proceed on foot to his destination, the secret laboratory that Stark worked with Ho Yinsen as a captive in developing the first Iron Man Armor. Dusting off the outdated computer systems, Stark was able to reactivate the old suit, which was now the only armor simple enough for his deteriorating mind to operate.

When Osborn personally caught up to the debilitated Stark and beat him savagely, Pepper Potts broadcast the beatings, costing Osborn credibility and giving Stark public sympathy. Stark went into a vegetative state, having previously granted Donald Blake (Thor's alter ego) power of attorney.

Stark Disassembled
A holographic message stored in Pepper's armor revealed that Stark had developed a means of 'rebooting' his mind from his current state prior to his destruction of the database. Blake and Bucky resolved to use it to restore him to normal despite Stark's offer in the message to stay in his current state if it would make things easier and Pepper's own uncertainty about the fact that Tony could come back when so many others could not.

The procedure on how to reboot Stark was very complicated. First, they had to place Pepper's electromagnet implant onto his chest, which would be fueling his entire biology. Then they jacked in the hard drive that Maria Hill recovered, which was a backup copy of his brain before he underwent the Extremis injection and then they activated the implant by channeling Thor's lightning through Captain America's shield connected to it.

Meanwhile, in the last remaining vestiges of Stark's mind, he was in a barren wasteland, digging for the lost relics of his life, assisted by a couple named Howard and Maria. However, every time he found something, giant machines resembling his own Titanomechs would attack, causing the illusion to reset. He eventually found he was digging for an iron chest plate, resembling the original version of his armor.

Back on Earth, Pepper, Rhodey, and Captain America sent in Doctor Strange to help Tony after the first attempt to revive him failed. The Ghost interrupted the doctor's ritual, but Tony Stark manually overcame his coma and used the Ghost's ghost phone to transport the assassin away. It was then everyone realized Tony's backup memory drive was not quite complete, as he was awed by the events he read about on his computer after the skirmish, which included the Civil War, Captain America's assassination, the Secret Invasion, and Dark Reign.

Siege
During most of the Siege of Asgard Tony Stark was out of commission, but returned wearing an older version of his armor, disabling Norman Osborn's stolen Iron Patriot armor and signaling the return of all three main Avengers; including Thor and Steve Rogers. He was instrumental in the defeat of the Void, by ramming a H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier into the villain at full speed, weakening him, finally giving Thor the chance to kill him.



Heroic Age
In the aftermath of Siege, the superhuman registration act was repealed thanks to the efforts of Steve Rogers, who now took over the position of the overthrown Norman Osborn. Iron Man reunited with Thor and Steve Rogers and rekindled their relationship while setting their past differences aside. Iron Man and Thor were assigned to Avengers along with Bucky Barnes as Captain America while Steve Rogers headed the Secret Avengers. Iron Man was slightly troubled that he may not be able to take orders from Steve, but Steve told him that Maria Hill would oversee the Avengers.

With a new lease on life, Tony built a new model of armor with the help of Mister Fantastic and announced that he would make a new company, Stark Resilient, to rebuild his former wealth and to extend his repulsor technology as a civilian energy source, pulling from making government weapons.

Meanwhile, Sasha Hammer and Justine Hammer from Hammer Industries filled in the gap in military technology left by Stark Industries, with their own Detroit Steel Armor. They attempted to sabotage Stark's attempts at testing and presenting the new repulsor car developed by Stark Resilient, but failed. During a race to test the car, drones controlled by the Hammer girls and Detroit Steel attacked the event, in an attempt to destroy Stark Resilient's plans and prove Detroit Steel's superiority over Iron Man. However, they failed, and Stark managed to save the event and even use it as a stunt to promote the repulsor car.

Fear Itself
During the Serpent's bid to rule Earth, Tony fought Mokk in the streets of Paris, France, where all citizens had been turned into living statues.Finding himself unable to defeat Mokk with conventional methods, Tony entreated Odin to allow him to design magically powered weapons in the forges of Asgard.

Haunted by the casualties and his failure, Tony began drinking again. Then Odin appeared and after discussing with Tony, the All-Father proposed to Tony to create magical weapons at Svartalfheim. However, determined not to fail again, he restored his sobriety. With these weapons, the Avengers defeated the Serpent's Worthy and Skadi, while Thor defeated the Serpent himself but payed with his life. Days later, Tony destroyed the weapons at Svartalfheim and after discussing with Odin, the God brought back to life the "statues" of the Parisians who weren't broken. Also, Stark offered the dwarf Splitlip a place to work at Stark Resilient.

Long Way Down
A few days later, the Mandarin and Ezekiel Stane started deploying numerous revamped and upgraded villains of the Golden Avenger to make acts of wars over the world. The Mandarin also used a photo of Iron Man having his armor in short cut to manipulate the press into reporting that Tony Stark had been drunk, compromising Stark's image as an appropiate pilot of the armor, ultimately making the military force him install a device that allowed them to shut down the Iron Man armor when necessary. Stark realized that he was being played by the Mandarin, so he came up with a counter-plan, which began with faking War Machine's death and resigning from being Iron Man.

After Mandarin's plan led to a tragedy within Resilient, Stark contacted the villain to ask him what did he want. The Mandarin subsequently revealed he had been inside Tony's systems for a long time ago, and forced him to become his slave, making Tony build the Titanomechs with Ezekiel Stane at the Mandarin City.

Months later, Stark and Stane had built three Titanomechs, where the Mandarin placed three of his rings. Tony and Ezekiel convinced three of the Mandarin's prisoners, Whirlwind, Blizzard and Living Laser to join him in a rebellion against their "master." Additionally, Resilient was able to use the microbots known as the Swarm to track down Tony's repulsor tech and find him.

The tide of the battle against the Mandarin and the Titanomechs was turned in favor of Iron Man and his allies when the Triumph Division and the Dynasty heeded Resilient's call for help. Resilient was also able to remotelly use the Swarm to revamp Tony's systems, and give him control over the mist of microbots, which he weaponized to destroy the Titanomechs. Meanwhile, Stane had taken the Mandarin one-on-one and killed him.

Stark returned to Seattle, and after isolating himself in order to create new technologies and think about his life, he decided to take some time and clear his mind in the process by going to space.



The Secret Origin of Tony Stark
When he returned to Earth, Tony created a new armor to test new technologies. After many aspects of his life were questioned upon defeating numerous people who got their hands on the Extremis virus, Tony decided to accept an offer Star Lord made to him and joined the Guardians of the Galaxy to explore the universe.

During his voyage in space, Tony Stark was faced by a rogue Rigellian Recorder called 451, who claimed he had met Tony's father, and was the one responsible decades ago for allowing to Tony be born. The Recorder revealed he had supposedly genetically engineered Tony in-womb, providing him with his intelligence and wits, and also that he modified Tony to let him be the only future pilot of a giant armor called Godkiller which would be the nuclear deterrent of Earth. Tony was forced into piloting the Godkiller, but somehow couldn't. 451 discovered his long-time plan had no profit, and decided to destroy his consciousness along with the Godkiller. Tony managed to escape from the Godkiller with the brain-dead body of 451.

Upon returning to Earth, Tony investigated why he couldn't pilot the Godkiller, and discovered the hidden secret that he wasn't the baby 451 modified at all, but an adopted son used as a decoy to prevent 451 from finding the actual boy. Tony finally located his long-time secret adoptive brother, Arno Stark, who was no longer in danger as 451 was now dead. Reunited with his genius brother, Tony decided he could use the millennial information stored in 451's database and the intellect of Arno to help build a better world.

Superior Iron Man
During a confrontation against the Red Skull, who was empowered by Charles Xavier's brain, the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom cast an inversion spell to alter the moral axis of Skull's mind in order to defeat him. The spell was successful and the Skull was beaten, but it also affected the moral compass of those present in the scene, unleashing the inner evilness and selfishness of numerous heroes. A reinversion spell with the purpose of getting everything back to normal would later be cast, but Tony would avoid it using a special shielding to escape the spell.

Once again egocentric and determined, Iron Man relocated to San Francisco, where he secretly infected the entire city with a dormant new version of the Extremis virus via the water supply, to make the achievement of perfection available for everyone in the city. Using an "Extremis 3.0 app" for phones, the virus could be triggered inside an individual, giving the impression that the virus was downloadable. However, his plan had a second phase. After a month of free Extremis, he started charging each user of his Extremis App $99.99 a day for the renovation of this technology.

After a multitude of battles with several heroic figures, including Daredevil, Pepper Potts, and an artificial intelligence copy of an earlier, non-inverted version of his mind, and the ally-turned-enemy Teen Abomination, Tony's utopian vision for San Francisco fell through on account of a public relations campaign run by Pepper that destroyed the faith that the San Franciscans had in him, vilified Extremis 3.0, and revealed Tony Stark as "the monster [he'd] become", forcing him to work without his friends if he even wanted to secure his vision.

Time Runs Out
Some time before his space journey, Tony and the rest of the Illuminati had gathered once again in Necropolis in order to investigate a newly-surfaced threat: the Incursions, events in which universes collided with their respective planet Earths as the focal point, and the only way to prevent the death of one's own Earth was to destroy the colliding one, for which the Illuminati had to prepare themselves to do "the unthinkable," destroy an innocent planet. As part of confronting the problem, Tony formed the most recent Avengers team with the secret purpose of being able to combat the biggest threats possible while he could focus on the Incursions, constructed a Dyson Sphere called Sol's Hammer in order to weaponize the Sun, and helped reverse engineer the Antimatter Injection System.

When fellow Illuminati member Captain America refused to go along with the rest of the members acceptance of the potential necessity of destroying other worlds, his memory of the Illuminati and the Incursions was wiped. The Incursions and hiding their existence from everybody else affected Tony emotionally, to the point of what Black Swan described as a "man coming to the end of himself."

Months later, Captain America was exposed to the explosion of the Watcher's eye, which revealed deep secrets related to them to those in its blast radius, Steve remembered the mindwipe the Illuminati subjected him to, as well as their activities regarding the possible destruction of worlds, and confronted Iron Man about it. He decided that the Illuminati's actions shouldn't be tolerated, and charged the Avengers with hunting them down.

At this point, Iron Man had been affected by the inversion spell. An attempt at reclaiming Wakanda from the Cabal that Namor had created to destroy incursive Earths resulted in Tony being held captive in the Necropolis. After the Cabal had been apparently killed following a truce made by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Illuminati, the Illuminati returned to Necropolis and freed Tony, who was forced to flee due to the Illuminati's unwillingness to let Stark be there with them when they met Rogers and the Avengers, to prevent old fires from being stoked.

When the Shi'ar and their allies arrived to Earth in order to destroy it, as it was the focal point of the Multiverse's decay, the Avengers and the Illuminati tried to retaliate against the enemy fleet. However, they failed. As they ran out of options, Iron Man flew to Sol's Hammer in order to use it.

Iron Man successfully destroyed the Shi'ar fleet, saving the Earth, but the final incursion was on the horizon. With only a few minutes before the event, Steve confronted Tony to settle up. The ensuing fight between the two old friends led Steve to force Tony to admit that he had lied to him and all of their allies, when he had known about the incursions all along, but Tony also confessed that he wouldn't change a thing. The final incursion started, and Earth-1610's planet Earth started approaching Earth-616's planet Earth while Tony and Steve kept fighting. Earth-1610's S:H.I.E.L.D. launched a full invasion to destroy Earth-616, and Tony and Steve were crushed by a Helicarrier. The two Earths ultimately collided, destroying each of the universes.

All-New, All-Different
When Earth-616 was brought back to existence, any sign of Tony's moral inversion disappeared, having returned to his normal self. Eight months following the return of the universe, Tony had been working on his laboratory non-stop after his position as an innovator had been put in doubt. He created a new suit of armor that could adapt to any task at hand, and put it to work for the first time to follow the lead of the returned Madame Masque.


 * Personality            = Tony Stark is, for the lack of a better word, complicated. During his early days of success, Stark was a man who only cared about fame and wealth. He had no sense of responsibility or humility, always rubbing his success on the face of everyone he met. This all changed when he was captured by terrorists. After building the first Iron Man armor and escaping captivity, Stark had realized the kind of person he really was and engaged in a life of heroism to atone for his past mistakes.

Plagued by many vices, Stark is prone to womanizing, pride and most alcoholism, the latter being an addiction developed as a consequence of the abuse from his father and his social status. This lifetime of troubles has caused him to develop a cynical view of the world.

Despite this, Stark is devoted to truly make the world a better place. This desire has sometimes caused Stark to resort to morally questionable methods, as long as the end justifies them, including his crusade to safeguard his technology (leading him to confront heroes such as Stingray and the Captain), and the super human Civil War, during which Iron Man was hellbent on implementing the Super Human Registration Act, because its failure would have led to a harsh response from the government. However, Iron Man has shown being ridden by guilt over this type of course of action, which has developed into self-hate. Tony Stark has been described as "man enough to do what needs to be done, even knowing full well what it will cost him." Stark's self-hating tendencies have also led to Stark being suicidal, and undervaluing his own life, also in favor of others'.

According to Reed Richards, Tony Stark is "a future man trapped in the now. A prisoner raging against the slow crawl of human evolution." Stark's relationships, morality and ethics are highly adaptable and malleable to what he would consider the greater good of mankind's necessary survival and progress. Tony has also been described as "[A person who] really cares. He's been on the top and he's been on the bottom and he's done all 12 steps and a few more. He knows what it's like to have a habit that eats you from the inside, like worms. And he knows there's no easy answer, but every solution to every problem has to start somewhere. He's just trying to help."

Tony has also been shown to loathe taking other people's lives, and resorting to killing people only as a extreme measure.

Iron Man is a hero that relies on his intellect and technological resources to defeat foes and achieve victory. Stark invariably prides himself on being one of the most intelligent people of the Marvel Universe.

Alcoholism
"Of course I want [a drink], that's what being an alcoholic is all about. Alas, that also means I can't have one."

- Tony Stark

Still a child, Tony was introduced to alcohol by Howard, when his adoptive father forcibly gave Tony his first drink while inebriated. As a teenager, Tony would drink frequently starting when he was 15 years old, mainly to allow himself to better fit in with his classmates and to impress girls. As a young adult, Tony would even work under the influence of alcohol, claiming to have made groundbreaking work while drunk.

During his adulthood, Tony increased his frequency of drinking once S.H.I.E.L.D. threatened to buy his company, and his armor malfunctioned. Stark's increasingly irresponsible behavior, including handling his Iron Man armor drunk and mistreating his butler and friend Edwin Jarvis, led him to finally ask Bethany Cabe for help, who would help him fight his alcoholism for the first time.

Due to the machinations of Obadiah Stane, Stark relapsed. He got replaced by Rhodey as Iron Man and got kicked off the Avengers. Stark's condition worsened, and he became homeless. After barely surviving a snowstorm, in which a fellow homeless and friend died, Tony finally asked for Rhodey to help him overcome his addiction. Weeks later, Stark re-assumed the mantle of Iron Man.

By the time of the Heroic Age, he managed to stay sober until his meeting with Odin during the Serpent War. Despite this, he was able to stay sober and control his drinking the following months. During an Incursion he believed was going to destroy the Earth, Tony decided to line up numerous shots of alcoholic beverages and managed not to touch them, as even if he couldn't save the world, he wanted to "beat" his addiction. As of the casting of the "inversion spell" during World War Hate, his newly inverted personality has caused him to re-indulge in his alcoholism, apparently to "make up for wasted time" of sobriety.


 * Powers                 = Extremis 3.0: In the wake of the World War Hate, Tony Stark designed a new version of the Extremis virus and made it available for the public. He injected himself with it, and developed additional abilities, including:
 * Enhanced Strength: He was able to lift Daredevil with one arm and throw him away with relative ease.
 * Enhanced Agility and Reflexes: Tony is able to react instantaneously to Daredevil's attacks and move quickly enough to avoid them.
 * Immortality and Regeneration: Tony claims that Extremis 3.0 grants its host a form of immortality and rapid cell regeneration.

R.T. node: Thanks to the Repulsor Tech node implanted in his chest, which is linked to his brain, Tony is able to interact with different types of energies and forces a normal human cannot. The R.T. node acts like a new sense for its user. The reactor's excessive generation of energy provides Stark with an increased amount of intelligence and gave him superhuman-level multitasking and learning capabilities. It enhances the metabolism, core strength, reaction time, reflexes and intelligence up to 25-30 IQ points. Nick Fury's intel classified him as power level 9.




 * Energy Emanation: The R.T. node not only provides repulsor energy to run devices such as the Iron Man Armor, its user can produce beams of energy at will, possibly weaker and less directed than the Uni-Beam.


 * Electrical Fields Detection: As the R.T. node is connected to Tony, he can feel different electrical fields that the Reactor is picking up. This includes all kinds of invisible frequencies.
 * Magnetic Force-Field: The R.T. node creates a force-field which can be modified at will by its user by increasing the power of the Reactor incrementally. It can be so powerful to destroy bullets or repel people. It can be so powerful to surpass an electromagnetic field generated by Electro.
 * Levitation: The magnetic force-field generated by the Reactor can interfere the ones created by the planet and levitate. It's unknown if this interaction can be used to fly.
 * Enhanced Senses: The reactor also increases the senses of its user, allowing Tony to "hear better" for example.
 * Enhanced Strength: The R.T. node allows who possesses it to have a greater strength.
 * Enhanced Endurance: It has been shown that an user of an R.T. node not only recovers incredibly fast from different types of injuries but also to resist more physical damage than an average human.

Psychic Shield: Due to S.H.I.E.L.D treatments, Stark's mind is shielded from even the strongest telepaths alive.


 * Abilities              =Super-Genius Class Intelligence: Quite apart from the powers granted him by the suit, Tony Stark is far more than a mechanical engineering prodigy who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with honors at the age of 17.

With an intelligence classified as super-genius, he easily is one of the smartest people on Earth. Furthermore, this extends to his remarkable ingenuity dealing with difficult situations such as foes and deathtraps where he is capable of using his available tools, like his suit, in unorthodox and effective ways, for example when he built the first Iron Man Armor in captivity. He has also been able to hack technology from the Kree, a race centuries more advanced than humans.

Tony is known as a "futurist". He has stated that the way his mind works he can intuit the future, even being able to foreshadow that a situation similar to the superhuman Civil War was going to happen, years before it did.

More recently, Stark's intelligence grew to super-human levels with more energy being emanated to his brain thanks to the R.T. node in his chest, levels which even left Mr. Fantastic amazed.

Stark can use his superior intellect to the levels of dividing his consciousness with the help of equipment and perfectly operate three portions of his consciousness at the same time, being able to move, fight, talk and process information in three different bodies at the same time. Tony has been mentioned by Reed Richards to be the world's best multitasker.

Expert Engineer: He is an excellent engineer and mechanic capable of fixing almost any, if not all machinery.

Expert Businessman: Stark is extremely well-respected in the business world, able to command people's attentions when he speaks on economic matters by virtue of the fact that he is savvy enough to have, over the years, built up several multimillion dollar companies from virtually nothing. He is known for the loyalty he commands from and returns to those who work for him, as well as his impeccable business ethics. He also strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses, and in one case, immediately fired an employee who made profitable (but illegal) sales to Doctor Doom. He states that if he wanted to, he could give away his entire fortune and build it up again within a week.

Expert Tactician: He is a brilliant tactician capable of quickly formulating battle strategies and new plans if the situation changes, like being able to elaborate different complex plans in order to defeat different enemies in difficult situations, and be victorious. Even going as far as to simultaneously put Reed Richards in check on five different boards playing chess, a game he didn't learn until later in his life, leaving Richards totally astonished.

Skilled Combatant: Stark was trained in unarmed combat by Captain America, Black Widow, Black Panther and Shang-Chi and has become quite physically formidable on his own when the situation demands it. He has managed to fight Hammer Industries guards, defeat five Skrull soldiers in single-handed combat, Stark Industries security guards numerous Voldi gladiators, and handle his own against Madame Hydra.

Trained Marksman: Tony knows how to handle firearms, mainly the ones he has produced.

Slightly-Trained Acrobat: Through his training, Stark has learned to increase his agility and perform acrobatics, which even though don't reach levels of people like Captain America, are superior to the average human.

Indomitable Will: As evidenced by his two serious bouts with alcoholism and subsequent recovery, Stark is possessed of tremendous strength of will, never giving up and often emerging from defeat even stronger. It is arguable that the true "Iron Man" is not the armor, but Stark himself.

Multilingual: Apart from English, Tony can speak different languages, including Japanese, French, and Russian. He also appears to know Middle Eastern languages, though Urdu was never his strong suit.


 * Strength               = Without his armor Tony Stark possesses a strength a little superior than that of a normal human, he also engages in moderate regular exercise. The armor amplifies Stark's strength to incalculable levels, enabling him to normally lift (press) roughly 100 tons. If sufficiently powered by an outside source, the armor can achieve massively higher levels.


 * Weaknesses             = R.T. node Dependence: The Repulsor Tech node implanted in Stark's chest has the basic machine codes to keep Stark's Extremis-modified body working. So it needs to be in constant connection with him.

Alcoholism: Tony has been battling against his alcoholism due to the high pressures of running his industrial company, maintaining his social profile, and being Iron Man. More recently, he started to drinking again when, because of the Serpent arrival on earth, he believed it was the apocalypse.


 * Equipment              = *Armors: Iron Man wears a sophisticated suit of body armor containing various offensive weaponry. He has a number of suits aside from the current model. Some are mission-specific or prototypes for testing, others are older models kept for nostalgia or for research. He has developed a special briefcase to carry his armor in. A few models are too big for the case and require a separate module. As the multi-billionaire head of a global corporation and a genius-level inventor, Stark can procure or develop additional technology as needed as possible.

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Iron Man Armor
Iron Man's primary powers mostly come from his armored suit.

Suiting up the Iron Armor: Originally, Iron Man's armor was put on manually. Since the Model 2 armor, the only parts needed to be snapped on his body were the torso, the arm-leg "adaptors" (the cuffs of the gloves and boots), the fingers and the back of the hands, and the boots' soles. Metallic meshes were pulled magnetically from the adaptors to the other sections of the armor in less than two seconds.

The Model 4 suit allowed for every section of the suit to be stored in the torso, with an ultra-sonic signal proceeding from Stark's wristwatch and I.D. bracelent activating a polarizing unit in the chest-beam, which caused the shoulder and collar rings to expand in a 3D form, letting out the sleeve and leggings of the suit, which were expanded upon reaching the forearm and calves by memory circuits into the cuffs of the gloves and boots, and then encasing his hands and feet. Meanwhile, the mask slid over his head from behind. This process took micro-seconds.

The Model 8 armor and later suits required again for the entire parts of the suit to be snapped on. The Model 16 armor was able to be stored compactly and fly towards Tony if necessary, quickly encasing him.

The Model 19 armor had the mesh covering the entire body made of S.K.I.N., a liquid metal, automatically covering the entire body once the chest piece was placed on it. Gloves, boots and torso had to be put manually.

After injecting himself with Extremis, Stark was able to store his suit's undersheath in the hallows of his bones, being able to make it cover his skin at will. A signal sent from the lockchip in his arm caused the rest of the pieces of the armor to be pushed towards Tony using vectored repulsor field, being able to equip his armor in "the blink of an eye."

After losing Extremis, Tony's new Model 37 armor was composed of neurokinetic user-controlled morphologic nanoparticle bundles that resided in Stark's body, and formed a fibrous wetweb of iron and platinum, that could be commanded to form any type of structure upon Stark's skin, from weaponry to clothing. Once that armor was rendered inert and expelled from Stark's body, Tony used several machines to suit him up. The suit could also fly towards him and encase him incredibly fast.

After being morally inverted, Stark's new suit, made up of liquid smart-metal which hardened instantly on connection with the user's body, featured symbiotic "building blocks," creating a psionic bond between the suit and Tony, allowing the armor's start-up to be completely psionic and not rely on tech.

Armor Capabilities

 * Superhuman Strength: He is capable of lifting up to 100 tons when wearing his armor and can achieve higher levels of strength when powered by a sufficiently more powerful source. When She-Hulk got into a major frenzy, Tony was able to put her down in one punch. His exact strength heavily depends on which armor he is currently wearing.


 * Superhuman Speed: Even when not traveling for extended distances, the armor enables the wearer to move and react at very high speeds, shown for example when he was able to outmaneuver Spider-Man and the Human Torch.


 * Flight: The armor can typically reach speeds in excess of Mach 10, however Iron Man has been recently depicted as able to reach orbital escape velocities (5 miles per second) and up to speeds that can outrun black holes. Use of the jet boots provide enough power to lift a load of about 500 tons. Most recent suits are even able of reaching warp speed.


 * Power Cells: Most of his armors are powered by a combination of solar converters, electrical batteries and an on-board generator that uses beta particle absorption as a fuel source. Current models after Iron Man Armor Model 37 use a set of five Repulsor Tech generators to be powered.


 * Energy Conversion Power Recharge: The armor is also able to absorb and convert nearby or far away energy sources, such as heat, solar, electrical, magnetic, geo-thermal or kinetic energy or energy from the planet itself into electricity, or even drain energy directly into the batteries for recharge.


 * Self-Contained Life-Support System & Environmental Protection: The armor can be completely sealed for operations in vacuum or underwater, providing its own life support, and is shielded against radiation, biological, chemical, corrosive, kinetic, and electrical attacks as well.


 * Magnetism: The armor can generate magnetic fields to pull or push metal objects at will.


 * Anti-Magnetism: The armor Tony has to negate the effects of magnetism on it. This skill is used often to be immune to the powers of Magneto. This skill can be triggered when the armor picks next wave magnetism.


 * Onboard Computer: The armor has an internal on board computer operating system that aids Stark in providing strategies, background information on opponents, surroundings, the status of the suit, and prevents a lock on from targeting systems.


 * Sensor Array: Known sensors include radar/lidar, night vision, and physiological/medical scanners that allow Stark to take and monitor the vitals of other people, including heart and brain scans. These scans also provide Stark with real-time personal physiological data. They are also capable of an all-environmental scan for atmospheric content or life forms--including astral energy projections.


 * Override: When required, armor systems including strength amplification, durability amplification, and repulsor intensity can be greatly increased, by bypassing safety circuits and limiters. However, there is a chance that this can result in a complete system failure of the armor. An example of this mode is when Iron Man easily lifted a 16,000 ton Nuclear Reactor, and flew into the sky and threw it into the sea. It seems that he utilized this resource on the Hulk once, as the armor ends up completely inert. The range of the Override can be controlled as only reaching his very limit and staying at it for a long time will cause a system failure. This range goes from a safe 800% to 3200%, up to a very dangerous 5000%.

Defensive Powers
Crystallized Iron Armor: The armor has evolved from a bulky iron suit to a highly complex matrix of molecularly-aligned fully crystallized ultra high carbon iron/steel hybrid alloy enhanced by magnetic fields over layers of other ultra hyper alloys like titanium alloy and or tungsten/vanadium alloys reinforced with carbon nano-tubes creating a shell that is pliable, yet capable of amazingly high resilience and protection.


 * Enhanced Durability: His armor is very durable, capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of punishment. It can withstand high caliber bullets with ease. He can also withstand rockets, missiles, torpedoes, high powered lasers, and such, taking little to no damage. Future armors were fully resistant against electricity, fire, heavy impacts, energy blasts, take zero Kelvin and up to the Suns temperatures, even some of Thor's attacks (see Thorbuster). The suit can withstand almost unlimited kinetic and thermal impact, as well as most forms of radiation thanks to its refractory coating. The armor can survive anything short of a nuclear explosion at ground zero. The suit automatically protects its wearer when he enters an intrinsically hostile environment, such as outer space or deep sea. The armor even has specialized circuitry that guards against telepathic attacks. Tony is very confident in his suit's defensive abilities, when he was caught in a nuclear explosion, he was only thinking about women and completely forgot about what was happening around him.


 * Energy Shield: Energy shielding that can protect the user from harm. It is also capable of reflecting attacks and staying mobile. At 2% power, the shield is strong enough to withstand a nuclear explosion. It is even capable of protecting its user at the point blank of a nuclear explosion caused by a material even more radioactive than Uranium, Phlogistone. The suit's shielding is even capable of resisting a force blast from the Spectral Mandarin Ring, a beam of energy so powerful it can destroy the bonds between atoms and molecules, and magic.

Offensive Powers

 * Repulsor Rays: The armor's primary energy weapon. A particle beam weapon, standard equipment in the palm gauntlets; can repel physical and energy-based attacks, traveling as a single stream or as a wide-field dispersal. Beams possess penetrative strength ranging from effortlessly punching through 2 inches of steel to blasting a hole through a mountain. Power output can be adjust for larger beam or an omnidirectional, full-form repulsor blast. Power output can be adjusted to fire beams generating 2 gigawatts (like the Mark 3) to the beams in the high petawatt region, as seen with the Mark 27 (with assistance from outside sources). The latest version, the Mark IVa, was introduced with the Iron Man Armor Model 41, featuring a red color.


 * Unibeam: A powerful searchlight, capable of projecting beams in virtually every light spectrum. Also used as a powerful weapon that can destroy anything in its path. It fires a boosted form of the Monobeam with some energy backing it up.


 * Tri-beam: This unique version of the Unibeam runs on direct power from the chestplate, draining it's energy rapidly if not fully charged; causes considerable recoil.


 * Multi-beam: As the name implies, the Multi-beam can fire multiple energies at the same time. Generally used with the energy that Tony Stark has absorbed.


 * Pentabeam: The Pentabeam has microwave lensing projector that allows for directed beams of ultra-high multi mega-joule electrons, protons, acoustic energy, and neutrons.


 * Omnibeam: Rather than only firing beam type attacks, the Omnibeam can generate heats at 25,232 degrees Fahrenheit, extremely powerful lights causing irreversible blindness in the enemy, and emit ultrasonic attacks capable of stunning even superhumanly durable foes and even causing disintegration. The other way the Omnibeam is fired is by absorbing or draining any energy in Iron Man's vicinity, drawing it into his chest reactor and converting it into billions of petawatts and firing it.


 * Lasers: Standard lasers that can be used as weapons or for welding, including UV laser to penetrate light-permeable shields.Anthony Stark (Earth-616) from Iron Man Vol 5 2 005.jpg


 * Pulse Bolts: Extremely powerful plasma discharges that propagate in strength over distance, but implode if they get overloaded.


 * Energy Blade: Based on the same design Tony Stark used to build Captain America's energy shield, this laser sword, emitted from his right arm, could also be flattened into a shield on his hands, or spread over the entire armor to encase the armor in a protective covering.


 * Pulse Barrage: Pulse Barrage is one of Iron Man's standard long range attack. Because of its extremely low energy consumption, Pulse Barrage can be a very effective attack. an upgraded Red Pulse Barrage has the ability to penetrate through foes hitting others behind them, and the ability to ricochet off walls hitting more targets.


 * Smart Missiles: The Smart Missile is one that can target the weak points of a structure, object, or foe to inflict maximum damage with a minimal payload.


 * Hyper-velocity Impact: The program Hyper-velocity allows Tony to think and move at a much faster time frame than everyone else, allowing for quicker attacks. Also, it could create an electrical bubble if Tony is going fast enough.


 * Plasma Discharge: A plasma discharge is given off when the suit comes into contact with Vibranium.


 * Telepathic Microscopic Tasers: Tony created this device to prevent telepathic beings use its powers. They are stored in the armor's electric jet. One inhaled by a telepath, the more he/she tries to sue his/her psychic powers, the higher is the voltage of an electric current released in his/her body. It can be lethal if the telepath doesn't stop trying to use his/her powers.

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 * Telepathy Inhibitor: Tony's Iron Man armor is capable of blocking telepathic signals, even those of beings as powerful as the Red Onslaught.


 * Repulsor Tech node: The Repulsor Tech node is a type of fusion power which derived from the Repulsor Technology of the Iron Man suit created by Tony. It can be used as a source for clean energy as well as a powerful bomb, further modifications made along Rand Industries discarding the second possible application. After being left in a coma in a battle against Norman Osborn, an arc reactor was used to run Stark's body once more by using it to run the basic machine codes to keep Stark's Extremis-modified body working, also providing Stark with an increased intelligence, multitasking abilities and additional powers.


 * Skrull Anklet: Which allowed him to shut down any psychic abilities.
 * Avengers Identicard.
 * Sol's Hammer: A Dyson Sphere built by Tony Stark as a fallback plan for the crisis of the incursions. It's able to capture and control the energy radiated by the Sun, it can destroy an entire planet with only 2% of charge.
 * Iron Sight: A network of drone cameras designed by Tony Stark to guard and control San Francisco.


 * Transportation         = When not traveling in his armor or using a Quinjet as an Avenger, Stark owns a number of vehicles. Some of them have been modified, such as a Ferrari capable of flight.
 * Weapons                = Various repulsor weapon systems by Iron Man armor

Babs
Babs was one of the many dates Stark had to forget Pepper Potts; she went with Tony to take a look at the completed reconstruction of his factory.



Cynthia
Cynthia was one of the many dates Stark had to forget Pepper Potts, even though he mistook her for Sandra.

When Tony Stark was captured by the Melter, she and several other of Stark's dates rushed to the Stark Enterprises Main Plant to check if Tony was still alive.



Nan
Nan was one of the many dates Stark had to forget Pepper Potts, even though he could only see her once a month.
 * CustomSection1         = Related Articles
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 * Iron Man's armor
 * The Avengers
 * New Avengers
 * Mighty Avengers
 * Avengers West Coast
 * Force Works

Cameos

 * Iron Man is unlockable after beating Tony Hawk's Underground which came out in 2003.
 * Iron Man, Tony Stark and Stark Enterprises make an appearance in the 2005 Punisher video game. An inside joke alludes to Stark's alcoholism: After viewing the destruction left by the Punisher, Stark sighs and says, "I need a drink."
 * In Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, the Stark Tower does appear and acts as the base of one of the symbiote invasion resistance. Also there are many advertisements around New York about Stark Industries, featuring sometimes the Iron Man armor, the Iron Man armor helmet or an arc reactor. Although, Tony Stark never appears in the game, only is mentioned by Spider-Man.
 * Classic Iron Man: Toy Biz Marvel Legends Series 1 (with Stealth and MK III variants)
 * Silver Centurion: Marvel Legends Series 7
 * Modern Armor: Marvel Legends Series 8
 * Hulkbuster Armor: Marvel Legends Series 11: The Legendary Riders series
 * First Appearance Armor: Marvel Legends Series 14: The Mojo series (with Golden version variant)
 * Thorbuster Armor: Marvel Legends Series 15: The M.O.D.O.K. series
 * Classic Iron Man: Marvel Legends 2-pack Series 1
 * Extremis Iron Man: Return of Marvel Legends Wave 1 (with Stealth variant)
 * Neo-Classic Iron Man: Return of Marvel Legends Epic Heroes Wave
 * Heroic Age Iron Man: Iron Monger Series
 * Classic Iron Man: Iron Monger Series
 * Cosmic Iron Man: Groot Series


 * Notes                  = * The identity of Iron Man was publicly revealed when Tony donned his suit to save a dog from being run over. This was then later covered up by Stark claiming to have given up the suit with someone else now inside. He then proceeded to re-reveal his identity as part of his support towards the Superhuman Registration Act.
 * When the teenage Timeslide Tony Stark entered Franklin Richards's pocket universe, he was "reformatted" into an adult Tony Stark for the new world. When that Tony Stark came back to Earth-616, he remained an adult and had memories from all three incarnations of Stark. A scan of the original adult Tony Stark's grave determined the body was gone and strange readings were present. Whatever he technically was, physically or mentally, the post-Heroes Return Tony Stark considered himself to be the same man as the Iron Man who betrayed the Avengers in The Crossing.
 * As S.H.I.E.L.D. director and Avenger, Iron Man had Ultimate Clearance Level.
 * Trivia                 = * Tony wouldn't cover up his secret identity by claiming Iron Man was his bodyguard until several issues after his first appearance. He initially claimed that Iron Man was simply a close friend of his, who happened to be close by whenever he needed to be in action. The first person to suggest Iron Man worked for Tony Stark was Gregor Shapanka when he found himself cornered by the Golden Avenger brief moments after attacking the Stark Industries vault, but Iron Man awkwardly rebuffed his claims. By, it appears Iron Man being Stark's bodyguard was a known fact when the Scarecrow mentions he heard that Stark kept Iron Man around for that purpose.
 * Tony's favorite sport is soccer.
 * Tony claims to have beaten Reed Richards in chess twice.
 * At the time of, Tony was 35 years old. By implementing the Marvel Sliding Timescale, that would mean he became Iron Man approximately when he was 23 years old.
 * Tony Stark has three doctorates.
 * Tony is the owner of Area 51.
 * Stark means "strong" in several languages, including German, Swedish and various others.
 * Lee based Stark's personality on Howard Hughes, explaining, "Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-millionaire, a ladies man and finally a nutcase".
 * Tony Stark's blood type is A+.
 * Tony Stark is the first human to possess and use the powerful Infinity Gauntlet, Mr. Fantastic wore first, but didn't use it.
 * Stark hates J. R. R. Tolkien.
 * Tony suffers from Major Depressive Disorder.
 * Iron Man is an atheist.
 * Stark didn't suffer from alcoholism up until few issues prior to the Demon in a Bottle story. Years later, his addiction was retroactively included in his past, through flashbacks.
 * Stark is allegedly an Aries, being born between March 21 and April 19.

Source of inspiration & Cameos

 * The character of Nathan Stark on the television show Eureka is inspired by Tony Stark.
 * Tony Stark made a brief behind-the-scenes cameo appearance in Super Friends #5 by DC Comics. He telephoned a Super Friends telethon and spoke with Batman, wherein he pledged $75,000 to the Heart Fund.

Popularity
Iron Man and Tony Stark figures are very popular and have been listed in many tops: }}
 * Forbes.com has listed Tony Stark as #4 on its list of fifteen wealthiest fictional characters, with a net worth of US $12.4 billion.
 * BusinessWeek has ranked Iron Man as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics.
 * Iron Man was ranked 12th on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes in 2011.
 * Links                  =
 * InvincibleIronMan.com & Message Boards (sister site to Advanced Iron)
 * Advanced Iron - THE Iron Man Site to visit
 * DRG4's Iron Man the Animated Series Page
 * Iron Man Figure Archive @ toymania.com
 * Iron Man: The Animated Series (1994-5) @ Marvel Animation Age
 * Iron Man Message Board
 * Iron Man 12
 * The Iron Man Armory
 * John Jackson Miller's Iron Man production notes and trivia
 * Under the Armor - An Iron Man Fanlisting
 * Iron Man Comics - Marvel
 * Man Marvel's Iron Man Page
 * Iron Man Movie Group link
 * Stark's Site
 * Marvel Directory
 * cx mh 06fict15 iron.html Forbes
 * cx mh 06fict15 iron.html Forbes