Dr Doom, small analysis

credits to the wonderful artist! and Early goodnight from me ♥)

Dr Doom is definitely the villain I identify the most with. We share a lot in common, maybe more than I could ever admit.

I could go on and on about why I think we're kindred in spirit and behaviour but it would be too long and too personal. But I see him, in his complexity. So I'm just going to talk about him.

One could argue that he's an old-school one-dimensional villain and he might have been at the beginning. but he evolved, he became better fleshed out. He was not just a genius with a god-complex, he became much more.

Yes, he has a certain love for art, for grandiose, for purple prose but to me, he's a complex version of Dr Jekill and Mr Hyde, or of Frankenstein and his creature, of a man and monster. A man who has it all, really: he's a genius, he's wealthy, he's cunning and witty, he rules a country that is self-sufficient and very advanced. He could have had everything. But he doesn't.

he's very self-aware, self-conscious of what he looks like. he's been disfigured, vulnerable, cast away for his ambition. He is constantly challenged by a former friend/rival, lost his one true love to an arrogant prick, mocked upon if not feared for both his aggressive and dominant armour but also for his true self, the scarred man he is. They mock him, they attack him, they feel threatened by him but he doesn't care about it.

No... it's his reflection he dreads more. It's the broken and twisted image of himself that truly is his enemy. the physical scars and torn/burnt flesh is nothing but the representation of how he sees himself. He could heal, he could build the technology to repair the damages but either he chooses not to, either he doesn't even think about it. Why? he doesn't think he deserves this. it's self-imposed. He doesn't trust the world, it's true, he hates anyone who isn't a Latverian, but I believe he doesn't trust himself either. How could he? When he's DOOM?!

Does he live by his last name? does he live by the legend he built about himself? Maybe... Maybe not. Who really knows who Doom is? Why does he build so many copies of himself, only to have them smashed and destroyed in fights against his enemies? Isn't it...a way to see how it could feel for him to actually vanish from existence? Why does he lose? no, why does he ALLOW himself to lose? over and over again? if he was that smart, he should have already planned everything and defeated Reed and his folks. but he never did, or if he did, temporarily. I believe it's because of deep inside of him, it's something he can't allow himself to do. He can't win. He would never win because he doesn't deserve to.

Oh, he has ambition and he has his own agenda. I'm not saying he's a big softie here. I'm just thinking, There's more to him than some random plot to conquer the world or prove he's the best. I think, there's this huge scar, ripped open for all to see but only a few can notice it. Only a few can pierce through the armour he's created and see the man. Only a few can understand what he's going through.

Only a few...