Obadiah Stane (Earth-616)
From Marvel Database
Contents |
History
Early years
Obadiah Stane was a ruthless individual who studied his adversaries to find weaknesses that he could exploit. Ever since he was a child, Stane enjoyed chess, and handled his life with the same kind of methodical logic that he used in the game. In addition, he was a strong believer in using psychological manipulation to his advantage. For instance, in a childhood chess match against another boy whose skill at least equaled his own, he killed the boy's dog so that his mind wasn't on the game. He won easily, and he continued to use similar forms of manipulation through his life. As a child he saw his father, a degenerate gambler who at that time was on a "lucky streak", accidentally shoot himself in the head playing a game of "Russian Roulette." This event shaped Obadiah Stane for years to come. [1]
Hostile takeover
In adulthood, as a wealthy financier, Obadiah Stane turned his sights on acquiring Stark Enterprises, the industrial corporation owned by Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man). Stane had his agents, the Chessmen, attack Stark International and assault Stark's confidante, James Rhodes. Stane also set up Indries Moomji as Stark's lover without Stark knowing that Moomji was actually the Chessmen's Queen. While all of this was occurring, Stane and his associates conspired to lock Stark International out of various business deals. Stark eventually learned that Stane was the mastermind behind these attacks, but was unable to confront him. The assaults on Stark, his business, and his friend pushed him to the edge, and when Stark was scorned by Stane and then spurned by Moomji, he catastrophically relapsed into alcoholism. With the help of S.H.I.E.L.D., Stane succeeded in buying out Stark International, which he then renamed to Stane International. Stark, having fallen off the wagon, relinquished his armor to Jim Rhodes and disappeared to be a homeless vagrant. Rhodes became the new Iron Man while ignoring Stane's demands to relinquish the armor. [2]
Stane proceeded in manufacturing and supplying munitions and weapons to S.H.I.E.L.D. and others who could pay for them. But, when Tony Stark left, he left behind notes and information on the Iron Man armor. These notes were far from complete and without Stark's mind, they were hard to analyze, but Stane assigned a team of scientists to these notes and working from this, they created the Iron Monger Armor, which, according to Stane, was "far superior to Stark's Iron Man armor". He even thought of either selling them to the highest bidder or creating an army of them and using them to "take over any country he wanted". He said that this last idea was particularly interesting.
Retaliation
Stark, while a vagrant, befriended a pregnant homeless woman. She died in childbirth, but Stark promised to protect the child. This vow helped pull Stark out of his alcoholic state. When Stark recovered, he built a new suit of Iron Man armor, creating what was then the pinnacle of armor design, the Silver Centurion armor; he also founded a new, successful computer company, Circuits Maximus. Upon learning of his rival's recovery, Stane decided to attack Stark continually again. Stark confronted Stane on the property of Stane International and defeated Stane's agents, including the Chessmen, who had proven a match for his previous armor. Stane donned the Iron Monger armor and confronted Stark personally. The Iron Monger was more powerful than the previous Iron Man armor, but not the Silver Centurion model. Stane tried to defeat Stark by threatening to give his friends a horrible death, but Stark easily defeated the deathtraps. He then confronted Stane again, who was holding his last card: the baby of the woman who Stark had befriended while on skid row. Stane told Stark to remove his helmet or he would crush the homeless woman's baby between his palms. Stark, having detected interfering frequencies in his armor's systems through the battle, deduced that Stane wasn't experienced enough to pilot the armor without some help in the form of an external computer. He used his armor's pulse bolts to destroy the nearby building that contained that computer, causing Stane's Iron Monger armor to seize up and fall to the ground as Stark swooped in to catch the baby. Stane then removed his helmet and confronted Stark. When Stark told Stane that it was all over, Stane said that he had one thing left. He then raised his hand to the side of his head and using the Repulsor beam, he fatally shot himself in the head, like his father before him. [3] Stark was later able to obtain complete control over his own company, which reverted back to the name of Stark International.
Legacy
Obadiah Stane was survived by his son Ezekiel, who committed himself to avenging his father's death by destroying Tony Stark. Like his father, Ezekiel gained access to Stark technology through unethical means and used it to create a weapon of destruction. Ezekiel was responsible for a massive terrorist attack at the Starkdynamics plant in Beijing, China that nearly crippled Stark's assistant Pepper Potts. [4]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
Stane was an experienced businessman.Strength level
Without the Iron Monger Armor, Obadiah Stane possessed the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engaged in moderate regular exercise. The Iron Monger armor gave Stane superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) at least 50 tons
Paraphernalia
Equipment
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- Body Armor
- The Iron Monger armor was highly resistant to damage.
- Boot-Jets
- Each boot contained two miniature, magnetically powered turbines, which compressed ambient air into incandescence to generate thrust, thereby enabling the Iron Monger to fly.
- Repulsors
- The Iron Monger armor contained particle beam emission units ("repulsor rays") that could project tremendous concussive force.
- Chest Laser
- An intense laser beam, capable of vaporizing metal within seconds, could be projected from a unit mounted upon the chest of the Iron Monger battlesuit.
- Computer Control
- The tactical actions of the armor can be remote-controlled by computer. If the wearer was not experienced enough to operate the armor, the computer controlling the armor could compensate for this lack of experience. However, this is the armor's achilles' heel. If the computer controlling the armor is shut down or destroyed, the armor will temporarily become non-responsive to any commands given by the wearer, effectively paralyzing the armor until the wearer can engage manual control. The antenna that links the armor to the antenna can be seen on the left shoulder. Presumably, if this were destroyed, it would also have the same effect as loss of computer control.
Transportation
Weapons
Internal weapons of the Iron Monger.
Links
- Appearances of Obadiah Stane (Earth-616)
- Character Gallery: Obadiah Stane (Earth-616)
- Images that feature Obadiah Stane (Earth-616)
- Fan-Art Gallery: Obadiah Stane (Earth-616)
- Quotations by Obadiah Stane (Earth-616)
- Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Deluxe Edition #19 (December 1987)
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