VICTOR VON DOOM clone

Real Name: Victor von Doom II

Identity/Class: Genetically-engineered (cloned) human mutate

Occupation: Former would-be monarch;
    former lieutenant to Doom in Cynthian Associates

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Former agent of Dr. Doom;
    created by Gert Hauptmann

Enemies: Formerly the Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Susan Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm)

Known Relatives: Victor von Doom ("father"/genetic donor)

Aliases: Victor von Doom clone, clone of Doom, son of Dr. Doom

Base of Operations: Castle Doom, Latveria;
    a mansion in upstate New York

First Appearance: (In shadows) Fantastic Four I#193 (April, 1978);
    (fully seen) Fantastic Four I#196 (July, 1978);
    (identified) Fantastic Four I#198 (September, 1978)

Powers/Abilities: The clone presumably possessed comparable intellect to Dr. Doom, though it lacked many of his negative emotions.
    It briefly possessed the combined powers of the Fantastic Four, though the transference was incomplete, and the powers seemed far less than that of their "donors". He had superhuman strength (Class 10) and durability, rock-like skin, along with the abilities to stretch, turn invisible, project force fields, generate flames, and fly.

Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 225 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:
(Fantastic Four I#199 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to cement his lifelong rule in Latveria, as well as to give a false show of good faith to improve Latveria's standing with the United Nations (UN), Doom invoked an archaic law that Dictators of Latveria must abdicate the throne after a certain period of time. At the same time, Doom put his agent Gert Hauptmann in charge of creating a clone of him (see comments) -- posing as the son of Doom, the clone would become his successor. The clone was grown to adulthood and given at least some of the memories of his progenitor.

(Fantastic Four I#193) - During one of the break-ups of the Fantastic Four, Reed Richards (having lost his stretching power) took a job at Cynthian Associates, where he was working on a small fragment of an unspecified project. The project apparently involved the creation of a mind-control device, with which Doom planned to take over the UN. The motivation for the success of this project was the idea that it was a top secret project critical to the USA, and the patriotism of Richards and the scientists apparently blinded them to any early warning signs.
    The clone of Doom watched Richards via remote video, mocking his inability to see that he was being manipulated.

(Fantastic Four I#195) - The clone of Doom was impressed as Richards began to piece together the secrets that had baffled both Doom and the other scientists which they had employed.

(Fantastic Four I#196) - The clone of Doom oversaw Hauptmann's use of the Hypno-Persuader to transform Reed Richards into the Invincible Man, under their control. Using the illusions and technology given to him by Doom, the Invincible Man subdued the rest of the Fantastic Four and brought them back to a mansion base in upstate New York. There the clone revealed his presence (not that any of them recognized him!), and revealed Reed to have been the Invincible Man, after which he restored Reed's mind and imprisoned him with the rest.
   The clone then met with Dr. Doom, after which it met with Richards, and discussed how they would restore his lost stretching power -- Doom wanted that power returned to him so that it could be replicated in the clone.

(Fantastic Four I#197) - The clone sent Richards up in an unshielded spaceship, where he regained his powers, actually increasing them above their previous level. In the process, Richards was attacked by the Red Ghost (Ivan Kragoff), and the ship crashed as a result. Richards was recovered by SHIELD, and made preparations to go after Doom, whom he had finally recognized as the one manipulating him.
    Doom introduced the clone to the rest of the Fantastic Four as his son, to whom he would soon hand over the rule of Latveria.

(Fantastic Four I#198) - Back in Latveria, Doom prepared his clone for the transference of powers from the Fantastic Four. As anticipated, Richards returned and tried to ambush Doom, who easily captured him and put him into the transference machine. Doom then initiated the transference process.

(Fantastic Four I#199) - The Fantastic Four broke free from the transference device, and Reed revealed that he had placed a micro-feedback system in his belt to short-circuit anything Doom sent at them. However, Doom took Alicia Masters hostage, and forced the Fantastic Four to stand-down or he would slay her. Doom then crowned his clone the next monarch of Latveria, but Zorba, leader of the Latverian underground rebellion, rushed in and announced that Victor von Doom II was actually the clone of Doom. Furious, Doom unleashed his Omni-Bots on the rebels. At the same time, the clone attempted to access his new powers, only to find that Richards' interference had negatively affected the process, so that the clone took on a rocky form, halfway between that of Doom and the Thing.
    Furious that his clone, too, had lost his handsome looks, Doom sent him to slay the Fantastic Four, who had escaped and confronted him. However, the clone instead blamed Doom and revealed that his transformation had also allowed him to see Doom for what he truly was. Lacking Doom's hatred and insanity, the clone was appalled at his machinations to manipulate his subjects and the rest of the world. The clone fought Doom toe-to-toe, until Doom became so furious that he unleashed his armor's electro-magnetic amplifier, slaying the clone.

(Fantastic Four I#200) - Doom attacked the Fantastic Four, blaming them for making him kill his "son." Later, Doom's agents disposed of the clone's corpse.

Comments: Created by Len Wein, Keith Pollard, Bill Mantlo, and Joe Sinnott.

    According to the Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four, the cells from which the clone was created were probably actually taken from Doom prior to his accident back at State University, perhaps a decade before. The clone may have been grown over a process of years.

    While I have a serious pathological aversion to the use of Roman numerals, in this case, it is actually appropriate. The Doom clone was supposed to be the son of Victor von Doom, with the exact same name, making him Victor von Doom the second, or Victor von Doom II. I don't think Vic's the type to go with "junior."

    Cynthian Associates is a clear reference to Doom's mother Cynthia von Doom.

    For being the smartest guy on the planet, Reed sure missed all of the clues on this one. First, the Cynthian Associates thing, but I'd let that slide. Then...the clone has the exact same face as his arch-enemy, whom he should remember, as they were college classmates together. I wonder if he'd have suspected anything if his employer looked exactly like Galactus?
    Maybe Doom was using the Hypno-Persuader to dull his suspicions all along, but it seems unlikely, since they wanted his full intellect for the project he was working on.

In creating the clone of Dr. Doom, maybe Hauptmann got some behind-the-scenes assistance from Maelstrom. -- Ron Fredricks

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Victor von Doom clone should be distinguished from:

Gert Hauptmann should be distinguished from:

Transference machine

This large device was used in Dr. Doom's plot to empower his "son"/clone with the abilities of the Fantastic Four.

When all four members of the FF were captured, they were imprisoned within the transference globes. After the clone got into target-position within a focal-point mechanism, the machine was activated, and he was struck by a beam of energy composed of the extracted powers of the heroic quartet.

However, Mr. Fantastic just happened to have a micro-feedback system attached to his belt (Holy Utility Belt, Batman!), which apparently disrupted the transference process, and the Fantastic Four retained their powers.

The clone later developed his own semblance of the FF's combined powers, but to a much lesser degree. The super-powered clone then turned against Dr. Doom, but was eventually killed by him.

--Fantastic Four I#198 (Fantastic Four I#198-199

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#199, p14, pan5 (main image - Victor von Doom clone, after mutation)
Fantastic Four I#199, p13, pan3 (at coronation ceremony, pre-mutation clone receives crown from Dr. Doom)
Fantastic Four I#199, p15, pan3 (clone using force field)
Fantastic Four I#199, p17, pan1 (clone stretching and firing flame-blast)
Fantastic Four I#199, p18, pan1 (Dr. Doom kills clone)
Fantastic Four I#198, p10, pan1 (three of the Fantastic Four in globes of transference machine)
Fantastic Four I#198, p10, pan2 (pre-mutation clone within focal-point mechanism; Dr. Doom (background))
Fantastic Four I#198, p17, pan4 (transference machine activated)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#193 (April, 1978) - Len Wein, Marv Wolfman & Bill Mantlo (writers), Keith Pollard (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Fantastic Four I#195-196 (June-July, 1978) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Keith Pollard (pencils), Pablo Marcos (inks)
Fantastic Four I#197-200 (August-November, 1978) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Keith Pollard (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks)

First posted: 01/04/2004
Last updated: 04/19/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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