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History

Origins[]

On returning to his kingdom of Latveria after a successful revolution against him, its monarch, Doctor Doom encountered a young boy named Kristoff and his mother, a Latverian woman still loyal to Doom.[1] A robot under the control of Zorba Fortunov, the current ruler of Latveria, slew the woman for violating curfew, thereby outraging Doom, who considered the woman to have been under his protection and destroyed the robot in retaliation. After regaining the Latverian throne, Doom took the orphaned Kristoff under his care and had him raised in the royal palace.[2] Doom became quite fond of Kristoff and decided to make him his heir.

Later, Doctor Doom's body was destroyed by the explosion of cosmic energy in which the alien Tyros perished.[3] Doom survived by psionically transferring his consciousness into the body of an onlooker just before Doom's own body was destroyed.[4]

Becoming Doctor Doom[]

Kristoff Vernard (Earth-616) from Mighty Thor Vol 1 410 0001

Back in Latveria, Doctor Doom's robots, believing their master to be dead, implemented a plan of his by which Doom hoped that his legacy would carry on after his death. The robots began programming Kristoff's mind with the recorded memories of Doctor Doom in chronological order.[5] As a result Kristoff came to believe that he himself was the original Doctor Doom. Upon receiving the memories of Doom's first partnership with the Sub-Mariner and Doom's theft of the Baxter Building, the former headquarters of Doom's arch foes, the Fantastic Four, Kristoff commanded that the programming stop. Seeing where that plan to destroy the Fantastic Four had gone wrong, Kristoff resolved to try it again, but this time to make it work by avoiding the mistake of involving the Sub-Mariner.

Kristoff garbed himself in a variant version of the original Doctor Doom's armor. This armored suit was designed so as to make Kristoff appear to be the size of an adult. Kristoff decided that the reason he possessed a child's body was that his consciousness had been transferred into it by an enemy.

Fantastic Four[]

Using the original Doctor Doom's advanced technology, Kristoff entrapped the Fantastic Four within the Baxter Building, drew it outside Earth's atmosphere, and then blew the building up.[6] However, the Fantastic Four survived by means of the Invisible Woman's ability to generate protective force fields. The Fantastic Four invaded Latveria and defeated Kristoff. Learning to their astonishment that the Doctor Doom who had tried to kill them was really a small, brainwashed child, the Fantastic Four took Kristoff back to New York City with them in the hope of restoring him to his normal personality.

Eventually, Kristoff, still believing himself to be the original Doctor Doom, was placed in confinement at Four Freedoms Plaza, the Fantastic Four's new headquarters. Meanwhile, the entity calling himself the Beyonder restored the real Doctor Doom to his original body.

Doom vs. Doom[]

Subsequently, the real Doctor Doom used one of his robots to kidnap Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Susan Richards of the Fantastic Four, in order to use his powers to battle the demon Mephisto.[7] Kristoff summoned the robot and had it free him from captivity and transport him to Latveria, where he donned a suit of his special armor. He then confronted the real Doctor Doom as the latter was using Franklin as a pawn in bargaining with the demon Mephisto for the soul of his deceased mother, Cynthia. When the real Doctor Doom admitted to a human weakness - his inability to trust Franklin to defeat Mephisto in combat - Doom's robots decided that he could not be their true master, and that Kristoff must be the true Doctor Doom. His robots having turned against him, Doctor Doom was forced to flee Latveria.

Kristoff, as Doctor Doom, was then ruler of Latveria, and believed that it was the real Doctor Doom, whom he believed to be an impostor, who had entrapped him within a child's body. This began a long civil war between the two, as one or the other were deposed and set up as the true Doom, and often came to blows personally. Then, during their last encounter, Doom uttered a code word that returned Kristoff’s true personality. Doom then placed Kristoff into stasis in a Tibetan monastery-lab under his control.

Joining the Fantastic Four[]

Much later, Kristoff was awakened by Nathaniel Richards when Reed Richards and Doctor Doom were presumed dead. Nathaniel was actually after Boris, Doom's former guardian, in an adjoining stasis chamber, who was, in fact, the Tomorrow Man in disguise. Kristoff returned with Nathaniel and Sue Richards to the Fantastic Four and joined them on several adventures, becoming a close, but carefully watched, associate. Kristoff soon developed a crush on Ant-Man's young daughter, Cassie.

When the Fantastic Four seemingly perished fighting the menace known as Onslaught, Kristoff teamed with Nathaniel Richards in securing the Fantastic Four's equipment in the Negative Zone before returning to Latveria to assume the vacant throne. Somehow, Kristoff was blocked from entering by the Dreadknight, and fled with Nathaniel, vowing to return.[8]

Spider-Man/Fantastic Four[]

Kristoff appeared again after an unspecified time following the Onslaught Incident. This time he had studied sorceries as far as time travel. With this power he traveled throughout history collecting samples of alien technology to gain an upperhand to kill Doom, while the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man were dealing with adversaries and problems in the time periods he visited. After completely upgrading himself, he lured Spider-Man to the Baxter Building, home of the Fantastic Four. Once Spider-Man arrived, he made his appearance to the family and asked for their help in killing his adopted father. When the family turned him down and offered their help in regaining his sanity, he became enraged and attacked them. The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man retaliated but discovered his defenses to be unbreakable, and as a result, they were almost vanquished by Kristoff. Amidst the battle, the Thing ran off to look for something while Spider-Man stalled Kristoff. While Kristoff was distracted by the Thing, Spider-Man realized what the Thing was going for and showed Kristoff a family album that included him when he was still a child. Kristoff was stunned to see they never forgot about him and plead with him to come back to their family. Kristoff hesitated before rejecting their offer and returning to his base. He proceeded to destroy everything he gathered, perhaps regretting his actions and the family he could have belonged to.[9]

Monarch of Latveria[]

An unspecified amount of time later Doom, suffering from brain damage he had inflicted upon himself during the Fall of the Hulks, found his ability to rule impaired, Doctor Doom summoned Kristoff from exile. Kristoff would be crowned the new Monarch of Latveria with Doom advising from the shadows. When Doctor Doom regained his intellect, he became the Monarch of Latveria once more.[10]

Multiverse Incursion[]

Kristoff Vernard was with his adopted father when they were attacked by a mysterious group known as The Mapmakers. Kristoff and Doom were able to fight off The Mapmakers while the Illuminati destroyed the other Earth.[11]

Attributes

Power Grid[14]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Multiple Types:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Supersonic:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (800 lbs-25 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Super-Genius

Abilities

  • Super-Genius Intelligence: Kristoff possesses the advanced scientific knowledge and mystical knowledge rivalling his mentor Doctor Doom.[12]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

  • Doctor Doom's Armor: Kristoff's most important weapon is his nuclear-powered, micro-computer enhanced suit of iron armor, modeled after the original Doctor Doom. The armor is an exoskeleton which enables Kristoff, though he is a child, to appear to be the size of an adult. By moving his legs within the armor, he can move the armored suits longer legs. He can also manipulate controls within the armor that enable him to move the suit's arms, hands, and fingers as if they were his own.

For a time Kristoff wore a child-sized version of the original Doctor Doom's armor, but he has since abandoned this armored suit. Besides his portable armor and its armaments, Kristoff had access to the vast arsenal of technological weaponry designed and constructed by the original Doctor Doom, far too large and varied to be described here.

Kristoff employed a small army of semi-humanoid robots which guard his castles and Latveria itself. He also commanded a large number of androids that were constructed by the original Doctor Doom in his own image, and were programmed to think and behave for the most part as he does. Each of these robot simulacrums believes itself to be the actual Doctor Doom except when it is in the presence of the being it believes to be the original Doom or of other robotic Doom simulacrums.

Transportation

A number of advanced means of vehicular conveyance, including vessels capable of interplanetary travel through hyperspace.

See Also

Links and References

References

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