Victor von Doom (Earth-616)/Quotes

I've failed! I've been defeated-- by the accursed Fantastic Four!

The world must not lose a magnificent brain like mine!

Before this day is ended, mankind shall grovel helplessly at my feet -- and, as fate has obviously ordained -- Doctor Doom shall be Master of Earth!

So then never let it be said Doctor Doom was a poor loser!

The welfare of my people is ever closest to my heart! What a pity I am so often forced to save you from yourselves! That is why my invincible robot army stands guard both night and day!

Now that you are powerless -- you shall be treated the same as all my beloved subjects -- you will obey every order -- and be punished for every infraction – for the rest of your natural lives!

Permit me to salute your courage, Richards! A pity you have not the power to match it!

The star Doom follows beckons only to him... and none other!

Few men are as subtle as Doctor Doom!

Today, I make no demands... no threats! But, one day, I shall voice demands -- and all shall obey them!

You'll rue the day you ever heard the name Dr. Doom!

Yet other enemies will come! Other battles will be fought! But no matter who the foe...what the danger...Victory will be mine... for now, and for always!

Dolts! Such insolence will not go unpunished!

I tried... I tried... yet perhaps not hard enough. I am sorry, mother. Perhaps next year. Perhaps next year... when I'm stronger. Perhaps next year... when I'm fresh.

Latveria is European, Mr. Cage-- I have no black subjects, and-- sad to say-- no one ever emigrates to my land. Thus, in order to pursue them unobtrusively-- for I am not welcome in the United States-- I needed a black, and I needed to hire him. Enter, Luke Cage.

... I am more than amused by the prospect of a battle of wits ... though I fear that with you as an opponent... the struggle might well be brief.

Perhaps we are natural allies after all.

I do as I choose.. and I answer to no one!

Farewell my companions -- When next we meet -- it will be as foes!

I dislike your threats woman, particularly since your voice should be raised in tribute!

The Mighty Avengers, BAH!

Your life hangs on a thread to be cut short on Doom's command!

My kingdom-- the world-- under Attuma's heel?! Impossible! Yet... Come, android!

The duel is done Skull! And the victory... Doom's!

Only Doom dares to dream! All others serve!

It is time to clear the board of unfinished gambits, and put the remaining pieces... away. [...] You see, my sense of fair play extends only to the limits of the match -- and now that the game has concluded, I have no qualms whatsoever about multiplying the odds... in my favor.

Am I always to be plagued by that accursed quartet?

My vast and supreme will shall be done!

What do you want ... errand boy?

Morgana Le Fey, you are a remarkable woman. Were you but a product of my own time...

But, to destroy you thus would be a petty victory indeed -- and Doom is never petty.

Rivals... No one rivals Doom! NO ONE! Doom is supreme! There is no power on earth, no intellect in all creation to equal Mine!

The Beyonder is dead! Now, the supreme being in the universe... is Doom!

One of the most sophisticated robots I've ever created! I shall mourn your passing.

If the nations of the Earth cannot stop squabbling like spoiled children long enough to control the forces they have so foolishly unleashed -- then Doom shall take their deadly toys away from them!

My greatest flaw. I surround myself with idiots.

Consciousness makes cowards of so many...

As for the Wizard, he takes excessive pride in his invention of antigravity drives - an achievement I accomplished while I was a youth. Besides, how can I take anyone seriously who voluntarily takes the Trapster as a partner?

From our previous encounter, lackey, I owe you vengeance.

Do not let your idle tongue undo your small successes.

Do you truly believe Von Doom embarks upon the least of his plans without calculating the smallest detail?

Your words lack vision, Kang, but you will soon learn the meaning of ultimate power!

Rise, Magneto. Do not cower. You shame yourself. How dare two such as we succumb to the terror that has so paralyzed others? Fear is for lesser men.

No man speaks to Doom this way. Even Captain America.

Knowledge is power. In all the universe there is no greater truth. And I do not intend to share it!

Behold the new sun that soars in the heavens! Gaze upon the great and terrible star whose name is Doom!

To escape it, or to simply use it, Richards must think like me. To think like me, is ultimately to become me.

You plead in vain, Richards. It was a test before, to determine who held true sway over your soul... ...the Dreamer. Or the despot... ...and you failed!

This game shall soon reach its inevitable conclusion -- -- and the final triumph shall belong to Doctor Doom!

I had expected my moment of victory to be more...satisfying......but perhaps repaying you for years of treachery, for the ultimate cruelty of tampering with my laborious calculations upon our first meeting......will grant me peace of mind whereas merely defeating my most worthy of foes does not!

How to destroy a man: grant him his heart's desire. One.

My life is changing. When I was young, I made a fateful choice. I chose science over sorcery. And I wanted to choose again. Thus, I made a pact. I conjured a cabal of netherdemons who claimed they would make me the magician I could have been... and greater besides. But as is too often true demons, there was a barter involved. One condition. I had to sacrifice something of indescribable value. Something irreplaceable. Something only you could give me. Farewell, my love. Dear, dear Valeria. I will miss you more than any will ever imagine... ...but I will always hold you close to me.

Unleash your technological marvels. Bring your vaunted scientific brilliance to bear. Do your worst.

Any rational man evaluating what you've just claimed would have to see the truth: This is your prison... and I am your jailer.

And so I escaped to America. Where I would lose everything...

You are a fool, Benjamin Grimm. I crawled through hell itself to get here. Do you really think you and your outgunned comrades are going to stop me when I'm this close to my goal?

A lot more people hate you than hate me.

Compassion can be useful, when properly manipulated. But not when it rules one's judgement. And that will ever be your weakness.

So come forth, Avenger. It is time to put our lingering dispute... to an end!

I am an infinitely superior being now, Richards. All questions of rivalry with you are settled. Infinite pain is a welcome price to pay.

Consider that your one stroke of luck. You may now have minutes to live instead of seconds.

Ah, Trickster. You are beyond by understanding...but Doom perseveres.

T'Challa thinks that he has set a trap for me. Tricked me into the open. But in his arrogance he has played into my trap. And as a result I have done what no one else has managed in ten thousand years. I've conquered Wakanda.

My methods are a means to an end, no different than pruning weeds in order to let an orchid flourish. Those who stand in the way of my vision oppose me because they fear me, but more than that they fear what I represent. Change. Do you know why I despise Richards? And T'Challa? Because never once they reined in their own self-righteous arrogance long enough to try and see what I see. Never once have they asked me: Why? Do you want to know? Love. Measure my crimes against what mankind does to itself, and I am a saint. Humans (Homo sapiens) are a predator species. It's what brought us down from the trees, and it's what will ultimately reduce us to a historical footnote in cosmic history. I am more than a scientist, more than the power-hungry despot that Richards and the others paint me as. I am a sorcerer. I have looked into the future, I have seen how one violent action after another spins the world toward a future where all that remains of Earth is a burned out cinder. Every time I have looked into the future, that is what I have seen. Every time but one. In one possible future mankind becomes united. Cures for all diseases are found. Global conflict ends. Hunger is abolished, education is universal, and no one goes without. In that world, there are laws. To break even the slightest of these is to suffer immediate and terminal punishment. After a while, no one would dare lay hands upon the innocent, or commit a crime of hate, or steal bread from the table of another. Ten thousand futures have I looked at. A hundred thousand. And in only one does mankind finally unite, and flourish... and survive. Only one. Doomworld.

You and I have fought monsters, Nazis -- even gods. I relish the battles we waged side-by-side. And when you challenged me, my blood raced at the rare presence of a worthy foe. But now? You are no king. You're barely a man.

Is it true what I've heard, Benjamin? That when Johnny Storm died -- valiantly facing an endless army... Is it true that you -- surrounded by crying children -- weeping at the inevitable death of your close comrade and friend... Is it true? Is it true that you just...watched? How very brave.

I suppose congratulations are in order. And I must admit, I cannot help but wonder... where to now? You are, at long last, your own man. You could climb the highest mountain. Take wathere you so desire. I gues that is the real question then, isn't it? What does the Hulk truly want?

Here, I can build.

Do not question me, boy. You're lucky that I let you live. Do not make me regret it.

You say Banner went insane. But I suspect you simply saw him at last for what he was all along. You say what he always would have been, were it not for you. Petty. Cruel. Obsessive. Damaged beyond all repair. Every bit his father's son. You were the only thing that ever kept him from slidind irrevocably down thath path. You were the outlet for his rage.

Why do they look like me? Doesn't it create the possibility that I am one? That Doom may, at any moment, be a mere machine? That I am not myself? Of course it does. That is how I wish it. I once let Arcade strike a match on me, just to mantain that confusion. Think, boy. If I am ever defeated, or dishonored-- If I ever act in ways unworthy of myself... If I ever die... The word goes out: "It must have been a Doombot." And the reverse is true. My robots often fool my foes-- I may be a robot now, speaking these words. How would you know? How would I? What is Doom? The flesh and blood that I can swap in and out of at my convenience? The mind I have copied to a thousand machines? No. Doom cannot fit in such small containers. I am not my body. Not my mind. I am... I am the old trunk, filled with ancient mysteries. I am the explosion in the college laboratory. I am the mask that burns with the fires of vengeance. I am the legend that unites this nation. I am the story of Doom.

Now? Now those who believe they can manufacture doom will face Doom himself.

Ask yourself that question. Or better still, ask who that is sharing your mind... Malice.

Family. Family is the most important thing there is... And I have been a bad father. I have failed my people, my son, my country... I've gone too far. In my quest for power I've destroyed many lives... I've dissolved the sacred bond of family time and time again. No more! My misdeeds are many, but I'll not let their enormity hold me back. This inversion has helped me to realize things about myself I've never dared ponder. It's opened up a whole new area of my consciousness. I will make everything right. For I am not a simple do-gooder-- I am Doom.

I made you regent of this domain because you are royal. You understand this to rule, and the power you and your Inhumans gain through exposure to Terrigen Crystals means you are equipped to enforce that rule. But there are many, in many realms, who would take your seat in an instant, if you were to lose favor in my eyes. Fail in this task I have set you, Medusa, and they will have their chance. New Attilan is crucial. To me, and to the safety and security of Battleworld. Only a ruler strong enough to keep it safe will be permitted to keep it at all. And the weak... The weak become meat for the beasts beyond the Shield.

There is no flaw in the world -- it is the world I wanted. But my people are restless because I fail to properly inspire them. I am a poor god. I think now that once having made the world, I should have removed myself. Perhaps the gods of old had it right... It is better to be unseen-- demanding faith, and beyond being defined by the mundane. I'm beginning to think that in my perfect world... I am the one flawed thing.

I am betrayed. Again.

Your rodent army cannot help you now. And without them, you are nothing: an insect far beneath my notice. Goodbye, Squirrel Girl. You shall not trouble me again.

The life of an adventurer, an Avenger, a knight is, by percentages, a shorter one.

I am here because I figured out what I have to do. I will pick up your mantle. I will be Iron Man.

My apologies. Making sure no harm will come to others is relatively new to me.

I was God, and... and yet, I was unchanged. I was not one with the universe. I was not content. I had pushed myself for this for so much of my life only to discover it was a fool's quest. So I fell back to Earth... forced to confront my true self... to rethink my purpose in this life. And it was then that a sudden and simply notion struck me. It knocked me to my knees. If the selfish act of ultimate power was not my calling... then maybe the opposite could be true.

There is a professor named Angela Kror who would be an excellent chancellor to you and could help put together a proper government structure... so you could then relinquish control of the streets and let the people build Latveria for themselves. I was able to vet her as a perfect candidate in the five seconds while we stood here. You should have done that the second day you were put in power.

If I thought my time would be best spent behind bars for my crimes, if I thought I would learn something more profound than what I have already learned... I would gladly put myself away. But... I think we can all agree, I can do far more to right my wrongs from out here.

Avengers, Victor von Doom is in need of your services. Today, you work for me.

My shame is that I could have done this so many years ago, had I seen things with a clear mind.

You keep calling me Doctor Doom... I am Iron Man.

Doom would know why you lured the accursed Reed Richards and his team to Wakanda.

As an expert in such things, I believe a death trap awaits us.

Doom does not need to explain himself to a man as lacking in vision as yourself.

And so begins our war -- against the Devourer of Worlds!

People of Earth, I give you my word this is the last time I shall interrupt your programming and petty distractions.

Before you would have had such merciful deaths. Now, the honor of Doom demands I make examples of you. Your slow, agonizing ends will be the stuff of legend especially yours, Susan.

The world is... not mine.

You want my future? Get me the Hell out of here!

When we began you said you'd deduced this future mathematically. But then you said I was God and that this future was not certain. I argued that there is no best possible world. That there are many outcomes. Which is what you wanted me to do. You played Devil's advocate. You wanted me to see infinite paths. You want me to reject this future.

I have seen things... from the future. A future that I could... I must... choose. In this future, we are married.

Fate has brought you here to my island. Young Franklin has been experiencing problems with his abilities, and I intend to do what his father refuses to or simply cannot do... fix him.

Greatness is cursed with enemies, young Kate. My history speaks to that. Of people attacking me and my citizens unjustly, for example... it appears your fellow mutants disobeyed my request. Not only that... they just murdered a Latverian. Unconscionable. Unjustifiable. Unforgivable.

I have selfishly injured my herald's soul. Zora is the closet thing to a daughter I may ever have. But who wants a monster for a father. A father who orders his daughter to kill her mother? And now... Zora may never be the same. And so here I record my new vow. I dare not say it aloud, as it still frightens me to even think it. I will transform myself. I will evolve the creature of Victor von Doom and bring order and peace to this world. It may not unfold as I have envisioned, but I will dedicate myself to saving all living things... and hereby refrain from evil. I choose the good. It's just a matter of when to tell the world of our imminent mutual salvation.

"King of Space." "Master of the Sun." You claim such vast dominions. Is it to balance your small souls? Could I not lay claim to the light and the void, if I wished it? Have I not earned such titles? I, who have mastered all arts, all sciences, all secrets? Whose technology and magic cross the stars as easily as they scramble an alpha telepath's mind? Who would dare to say I have not earned the right? Yet I am king of only a simple nation. On a simple planet. A beloved garden tended by iron hands. And the only title I have ever claimed... is doctor.

I am taking a bride, Richards, and I have decided... ...that you shall serve as my best man.

Yes! Doom's will be done-- in the heavens as it is on Earth! You speak of annihilations here? Is that your word for war-- for the sweeping waves of might that consume all? Then let Doom's hand be the annihilation of annihilations! The end of all your wars! Let my merciful mask be the true face of peace!
Look upon my work Dormammu--and despair!

I'm here to do what that ridiculous mate of yours deemed impossible. Doom will save her. Doom will save them all.

I've done a great deal of research into both you and the symbiotic creature you "wear." And I have a proposal that might be of benefit to us all. To that end, would you be interested in discussing the possibility of life... everlasting?

Time and destiny will do my will. As will you, Flexo. As will you. Do not resist. Simply think... and remember. Who forced you here? Who broke your destiny? What is his name? Eddie Brock. The so-called King in Black. When the time is right, you will be the hand of my vengeance against him... and his own son will be your weapon.

Some news, child...You're not in Europe at all. This. Is...Latveria.

And here they are: the Brothers Grimm. It's always the same with them, isn't it? Just one Thing after another.

Krakoa was destined to fail. Charles Xavier was not ready for the crown upon his head.

Know that if you make any attempt to infiltrate Latveria, the only thing left of your so-called "Revolution", within ten minutes of detection...will be ashes.

I was incorrect. It wasn't a lack of imagination that has held you back. It was cowardice. You, all of you with such power... yet so afraid of that power. You've let your fear master you. When you should have mastered this world. You let your fear make you small. But Doom has never been, will never be, small. And there is nothing that can master Doom. Goodbye, Avengers.

Enough. It is decided. It is correct. Spider-Man will be my champion in the Covenant. He will fight, not for me, but for them. He will suffer for them. Spider-Man will die for them... and die again... and again... so says Doom.

You will face the Scions of Cyttorak as my bannerman, armed with tools to aid you... arcane armor to give you access to the mystic arts and protect your physical form... and eight of the life-restoring Reeds of Raggadorr. Face the Scions. Beat the Scions. Protect the Earth. This is the word of Doom.

"Planning"? The time for planning was months ago, you ludicrous fool. What I have achieved is already done. What I have achieved... Well, I suppose it's best put plainly. Richards, I've taken over the world.

Nothing can save you, save for the enlightened rule of a single person who can make the hard choices. One who is above being bribed, being corrupted, who does not care about petty comforts that confound other men. Doom is above money. Doom is above desire. Doom is above all. And in his magnanimity, in his pity, in his greatness...Doom will save you.

I hereby announce the formation of the fulgur victors -- a worldwide anti-terrorism task force dedicated to the destruction of those who would put violence between his world and Doom's peace. They are my Thunderbolts. And where they strike, only justice will remain.

Nothing can save you, save for the enlightened rule of a single person who can make the hard choices. One who is above being bribed, being corrupted, who does not care about petty comforts that confound other men. Doom is above money. Doom is above desire. Doom is above all. And in his magnanimity, in his pity, in his greatness...Doom will save you.

Behold--! The Foundations of Eternity -- the intertwining of energies which is the basis of all that is!

They are my hands, my eyes, my work in the world. They are themselves...but they are also me.