Iron Man

From Ultimarvel

Promotional art for Ultimate Iron Man 1. Art by Andy Kubert, Danny Miki and Richard Isanove.

Real name: Anthony "Tony" Stark

Aliases: Iron Man

Identity: Public Knowledge

Occupation: CEO of Stark Industries, former super operative for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Legal Status: U.S. Citizen

Known Relatives: Howard Stark (father, deceased), Maria Cerrera Stark (mother, deceased), Morgan Stark (cousin, deceased), Antonio (uncle, deceased), unnamed uncle (deceased)

Group Affiliations: The Ultimates

First Appearance: Ultimate Marvel Team-Up 4

Power Origin Classification: Genetic mutation obtained in utero, Custom Power Armor

Current Whereabouts: The Ultimates base of operations in New York (as of The Ultimates 2 13)

[edit] Character History

Tony Stark is the son of inventor Howard Stark and geneticist Maria Stark. His parent met while combining the results of their own projects of a biological personal armor and a virus to regenerate lost limbs. Howard's biological armor was a bacterial coating that would consume any material externally exposed to it. However, it would also eventually devour its host, once the bacteria's own proteins had been exhausted. Maria was developing a virus that when inserted into a host body, would regenerate lost tissue. The combination of the two projects led to a more advanced version of the biological armor that would regenerate its own proteins and cause the armor to last longer before it started to devour its host.

Due to a lab accident, Maria became infected with her regenerative virus. Unfit for human testing, it caused her neural tissue to begin regenerating and expanding, eventually killing her by rupturing her body. However she was pregnant at the time. Her body was kept on life support to deliver the child. The regenerative virus infected the unborn child and genetically changed him. Having contracted the virus while still in development, the child was able to adapt to survive. The side effect though was that it developed neural tissue all throughout the length of its body.

The child was born and named Anthony, "Tony". Due to the amount of neural tissue, the baby was incredibly susceptible to pain, even dust touching his body could harm him. Howard Stark counteracted this by applying his new bacterial armor to his son. Howard's company was seized by a business rival, Zebadiah Stone, who had married Howard's previous wife. Stone attempted to seize Howard's armor project, but realized that Howard had funded it separate of the company. Nonetheless Howard was forced to go into hiding as Stone would try to seize the armor through means of violence.

Throughout Tony's childhood, he was inspired to work on means to overcome his physical weaknesses. His expanded neural tissue allowed his body to work as an expanded brain, affording him genius levels of intellect. Tony would use this to improve the biological armor with his father. After a group of classmates singled Tony out and harmed him greatly physically with fire, Tony realized that the biological armor wasn't enough, and began to develop the Iron Man armor with the help of one of his friends he met at prep school, Jim Rhodes.

Tony would become a celebrity young, using his genius to found a soon to be multi-billion dollar corporation, Stark International. He became an alcoholic after learning that the presence of alcohol in his system dulled his constant chronic pain. He then learned that he was dying from an inoperable brain tumor and had anywhere from six months to 5 years to live.

Tony's tumor inspired him to make the best of his life and to help as many people as possible. In addition to increased charity work, Tony decided to lend his aid to the Ultimates, the newly forming government super-hero group. Using his custom designed power armor, Tony fought as Iron Man beside the likes of Captain America and Thor for the protection of America. With the Ultimates, he was involved in the defeat of threats such as the Hulk and the alien invasion by the Chitauri.

Tony would find love among the Ultimates as well. Never before having a relationship that lasted beyond a few days, Tony found camaraderie in the arms of Natasha Romanov, aka the Black Widow. He described her as being just like him "with magnificent breasts". Tony became infatuated with Natasha, their relationship becoming high profile and long-lasting. He created her a suit of black armor like his own and proposed to her.

However, their relationship failed when Natasha revealed that she was a traitor in the ranks of the Ultimates. She betrayed the team, shot Tony's long-time butler, and then turned the gun on Tony. She was in the process of forcing him to turn his funds over to her, when Tony, being a cynical man after thousands of doomed relationships, activated the nanites that had been injected into her bloodstream to control her power armor, forcing Natasha in paralysis. He then downloaded the information from her brain to his and used this intel to battle the Liberators, the super terrorist group that Natasha had secretly worked for.

After the Liberators were defeated, the Ultimates quit their government post and became an independent organization. Tony now funds the group using his vast resources and technology from Stark International.

[edit] Powers and Abilities

Tony Stark's body is a genetic abnormality caused by the regenerative serum introduced into his mother's body during pregnancy. It has caused his body to grow neural brain tissue all throughout the length of his body, essentially making Tony a living brain. This has afforded him enhanced intelligence but at the cost of making his body much more sensitive to pain. The slightest touch of any external force, including dust can cause Tony seizure inducing pain. Tony uses his father's strain of bacterial armor to protect him from injury and pain, however the effect is not total and he still experiences constant aches and internal pain. .To offset this, Tony drinks. His body is much more susceptible to alcohol than an average person, and the presence of it dulls his nerve endings and allows him to feel like a normal person.

Tony is one of the greatest scientific minds of the Ultimate Marvel Universe. He speaks multiple languages, exhibits nearly total recall, and can focus his attention on dozens of tasks at once. He also exhibits regenerative characteristics from his childhood genetic modification, and is capable of regrowing lost limbs over an extended time period.

The Irontech "Iron Man" armor has been through many stages of development. The armor is constantly being updated and improved and new version are always being manufactured. The armor grants Tony incredible levels of strength and protection. It enables flight and is fit for space and underwater travel. The armor requires a flight crew similar to ground control for a space shuttle to maintain Tony's systems and relay information to the armor. The armor houses multiple weapons of military and genetic nature. It has repulsor rays and a uni-beam as well as thought scramblers which can impair the minds of psychics. The armor also has force field generators that can be extended to protect those around it.