Doom: Machiavelli and Nietzsche [Remake]

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Comic book fans (and Marvel in particular) are looking forward to the new Avengers installment, in which Doctor Doom (played by the wonderful Robert Downey Jr.) will play an important role. And even if all this awe for comics remained for me somewhere in school, I still love this villain. And he loved it long before Robert tried on his mask.

But this time, instead of a biography, let's take a look at this guy from the other side. The guy who wanted to take over the world so many times.

And one day.

Became.

By God.

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Machiavellianism: Divide and Conquer

"Of all the animals, let the sovereign be like two: a lion and a fox. A lion is afraid of traps, and a fox is afraid of wolves, therefore, one must be like a fox to be able to circumvent traps, and a lion to scare away wolves."

Doctor Doom is the phenomenon of the incarnation of villains. The authors endowed him with incredible power, but there are no such antagonists in comics - Thanos, Darkseid, Mephisto, Lucifer, and so on. So what makes Victor stand out so much? In my opinion, a distinctive feature of the Duma is the demonstrative achievement of goals.

Doom is not a deity, a demon, or an alien. Everything he had at the starting point of his background: knowledge, hatred and nobility. Having been born in the poverty of a gypsy camp and having lost his mother, who gave her soul to the devil, Victor decided one thing: to return what was taken away, putting all his strength into it.

The boy who lost his parents. What should he do? Fight a demon? Fight against the Latverian army? The correct answer is: if you can't win, take the lead. 

In a world full of different superhumans and inventors, Doom chose the strategy of the master - to master two polar sides tied to his main strengths (knowledge): to study dark magic and technology. Knowledge is not power. Power is knowledge applied correctly and on time. And when you have the power in your hands, you defeat your enemies with one simple choice: bow down or die. Yes, it's cruel and tyrannical, but it's pragmatic.

"Those who relied less on the mercy of fate stayed in power longer"

Dr. Doom follows Machiavelli's methods: he is practical. If he needs to take something, he takes it, no matter which superhero gets in his way. If he needs help, he will proudly offer an ultimatum. If it is necessary to govern the country, he will do it with a hard hand, but worrying about the people.

But if we see Doom's methods through Niccolo, then Friedrich helps us understand his motivation...

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Nietzscheanism: The God Complex

"I learned to walk: Since then, I've been allowing myself to run. I learned to fly: Since then, I haven't been waiting for a push to move. Now I'm light, now I'm flying, now I see myself beneath me, now God is dancing in me."

Victor von Doom is on the list of the smartest people on the planet for a reason. He repeatedly seized the moment and took away other people's forces.

But why is Doom so eager to gain unlimited power?

Contrary to his archetype of a villain, the Duma is not interested in power as an end in itself for obtaining benefits and pleasures. He is obsessed with his own philosophy of superiority and a vision of a world in which order reigns, albeit controlled (as we see in the 2015 Secret Wars comic strip).

In this way, Victor expresses, to some extent, Zarathustra's point of view: "Man is something that must be surpassed." He is a reflection (albeit distorted "comic-style") Superman: the destruction of the usual foundations and the construction of new laws, independent of moral dogmas.

The will to power is a tool with which the Doom tries to paint over the mistakes of the past.

In addition, Victor von Doom is guided by a dubious, but ancient, rule like the universe: The strongest wins, which echoes the opposition of Nietzsche's "morality of masters and morality of slaves." 

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Victor: The Unforgiven past

"That's how it always happens that someone else's armor is either too wide, too tight, or too bulky."

You can talk a lot of nonsense, but alas, Dr. Doom is an unsuccessful pragmatist and a broken superman. You can be the smartest person on Earth, you can master all areas of skills, you can endlessly master mcgafens, but if you don't let go of your past, you'll only dwell on your mistakes, reflecting on them over and over again...

Having failed to forgive Reed Richards for something he is not actually guilty of, and having failed to forgive himself (which Doom will never admit), he is stuck in a vicious cycle of his beliefs and traumas. Injuries that he didn't heal, but kept as a reminder. 

"You look up when you strive to rise. And I'm looking down, because I've risen."

Important: The author does not share the character's point of view, but only tries to understand it.

Dear antagonist or overrated poseur?