- "You've upgraded your armor! I've made some upgrades of my own."
- ―Iron Monger to Iron Man[src]
The Iron Monger Armor was an armor developed and used by Obadiah Stane created from Omnium Steel as a rival version of Tony Stark's newly created Iron Man armor. Unlike Stark, who viewed the Iron Man armor as a tool that could be used for peace, Stane only viewed the armor for its potential as a powerful, revolutionary new weapon system that would alter the modern day arms race, which is reflected in the Iron Monger suit's heavy-weapons-focused design. The Iron Monger Armor was reverse-engineered from studying Stark's salvaged Mark I design.
History[]
Creation[]
- "When I ordered the hit on you, I was worried that I was killing the golden goose. But, you see, it was just fate that you survived it, leaving one last golden egg to give. You really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you? Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb. Now what kind of world would it be today if he was as selfish as you?"
- ―Obadiah Stane to Tony Stark[src]
The Iron Monger Armor is created
Angered by Tony Stark's actions to shut down Stark Industries' weapons production after returning from captivity in Afghanistan, Obadiah Stane began to take more direct actions against Stark, going as far as making an attempt to shut him out of his own company. After gaining possession of Stark's Mark I armor from the Ten Rings, Stane, only seeing the armor's potential as a new step in weapons technology, ordered a team of scientists under his supervision to reverse-engineer the armor to make a much larger, militarized version of the suit.
However, because one of Stane's scientists was unable to fully grasp the technology that Stark had originally built into the suit, they were unable to create a power source that could adequately power the larger armor. This forced him to confront Stark, paralyzing him with his Sonic Taser in order to steal his advanced, miniaturized Arc Reactor, while leaving Stark to die.[1]
Duel of Los Angeles[]
Obadiah Stane with his own Iron Monger Suit
- "Sir, it appears his suit can fly."
"Duly noted." - ―J.A.R.V.I.S. and Iron Man[src]
Learning of Stane's recent actions against Stark and discovering the designs for the Iron Monger armor, Pepper Potts, Phil Coulson, and several other agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated Stane's private facilities at Stark Industries Headquarters for further evidence. While they found the Mark I Armor, along with several more blueprints and computer readouts detailing the suit and a storage area where the suit was being constructed, they found that the suit itself was missing. As the S.H.I.E.L.D agents fanned out to search the rest of the facility, Potts stumbled upon the completed Iron Monger Armor with Stane piloting it. Since Stane heard their approach, he was able to ambush the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and take them out before turning his attention to Potts.
Iron Monger attempts to execute Pepper Potts
As Stane made his way out of the facility and prepared to kill Potts, Stark arrived in his own armor to stop him. Stark tackled the Iron Monger armor and the two engaged in a battle that quickly moved into the nearby highway. Stark eventually began using his suit's improved rocket thrusters to evade Stane, but this only led Stane to reveal his own suit's flying capabilities before pursuing Stark hundreds of feet into the air. Stane managed to grab Stark, but just as Stark had planned, the Iron Monger suit succumbed to icing and shut down as they flew higher into the atmosphere. Stark used this opportunity to scramble out of Stane's grasp and caused Stane to plummet hundreds of feet down to the surface. However, by this point Stark's suit had lost most of its power, and he tumbled back to Earth as well.
Iron Monger is destroyed by Iron Man
Stark landed back at his headquarters near the skylight of the Arc Reactor. Stane soon followed, and they continued battling. Stark was caught in the Iron Monger's grasp once again, but was able to escape and ripped out Stane's optical circuits. Stane removed his helmet and gloated that he has done what Stark could not: create an ultimate weapon. Stark continued confronting Stane while telling Potts to charge up the building's Arc Reactor. While Iron Monger had the upper hand and moved closer to killing Stark, Potts overloaded the Arc Reactor, discharging an intense beam of energy into the night sky, shorting out the Iron Monger armor in the process. Stane was knocked unconscious by the huge blast and he tumbled into the reactor, causing a massive explosion that killed him and destroyed the armor.[1]
Alternate Universe Versions[]
Mark III Desert Flight Universe[]
Iron Monger fights Tony Stark in the Iron Monger armor
- "I am Iron Monger!"
- ―Iron Monger[src]
In an alternate universe, Iron Monger stole the designs for the Iron Man armor and kept it secret, building the Iron Monger armor based on them. However, Pepper Potts discovered the secret and warned Tony Stark. Iron Monger then donned the Iron Monger Armor and attacked Potts, loudly declaring his alias. Iron Monger prepared to attack Potts, but Stark arrived in time and punched Iron Monger, getting him away from Potts. Iron Monger taunted Stark, claiming that he had invented the greatest weapon ever, angering Stark. The two fought and crashed through the floor, releasing steam from broken pipes. Iron Monger used the steam releasing to his advantage, as Stark could not see him, and pushed Stark through a concrete wall.
On the highway, Iron Monger prepared to throw a car at Stark, but he acted quickly and used his suit's unibeam to send Iron Monger's armor crashing onto the ground. However, Iron Monger got back up and threw the car at Stark, pinning him down. The armor suddenly got hit by a fuel truck, causing an explosion, but the armor protected its wearer. Iron Monger made one last attempt at killing Stark, who blasted Iron Monger off of him. The roof of Stark Industries Headquarters broke under the weight of the Iron Monger armor, causing him to fall to the ground below, defeated.[2]
Abu Bakar Killed Universe[]
- "Tony Stark's an Iron Man? Now it's time for Iron Monger."
- ―Obadiah Stane to Pepper Potts[src]
In an alternate universe, Obadiah Stane gained access to the Mark I Iron Man armor and ordered his engineers to recreate it. However, they were unable to miniaturize the ARK Reactor the way Tony Stark did to power the armor, so Stane stole the one in Stark's chest.
Meanwhile, Pepper Potts figured out Stane's plan and contacted S.H.I.E.L.D., who assembled a team to arrest Stane. Stane put the ARK Reactor in the armor. The government agents arrived and blew open the door to where Stane was working, so he donned the Iron Monger Armor and used it to stealthily attack Agent Sun. Stane then attacked Potts with the armor, declaring himself to be Iron Monger. Stane used the armor to break through the ground and threaten Potts, but then got attacked by Stark using the Mark III Iron Man armor. They crashed through the ARK Reactor building, damaging the core and causign it to meltdown. The fight led to a nearby highway, where Stane used his armor's strength to throw a car at Stark.
Stane and Stark continued to fight, but Stane was briefly interrupted as James Rhodes drove a car into the Iron Monger armor's leg, damaging it. Stark left to prevent the large ARK Reactor from melting down, but Stane recovered and attacked him on top of the building using his armor. Stark, recognizing the designs of the armor as his own, exploited a weakness, damaging the Iron Monger armor's heads-up display. Stane struggled without the display and fired bullets randomly from the armor's Gatling gun. Potts then discharged the energy buildup in the ARK Reactor, freezing the armor in place. Stane tried to aim a weapon at Stark, causing him and the armor to fall into the ARK Reactor, destroying both.[3]
Stark Weapons Smuggling Conspiracy Universe[]
Obadiah Stane orders his own armor
- "It's beautiful. A work of art. I'll send the rest of it to the labs. I want you to get started on it right away."
- ―Obadiah Stane[src]
Finding pieces of Tony Stark's armor from wreckage in Afghanistan, Obadiah Stane contacted A.I.M. to help him develop his own armor. Stane repeatedly rushed A.I.M. in their work as Iron Man started picking away at A.I.M.'s resources.
Iron Monger shoots at Iron Man
Eventually, A.I.M. finished Stane's work, which was just in time for their collapse at the hands of Iron Man. Knowing Iron Man was after him next, Stane booted up his suit and went to Los Angeles. Iron Monger was met by Iron Man in the city and the two squared off. Stane shot at Iron Man as he talked about what they could have done together. Iron Man then got close and pulled out components of Stane's suit, weakening it. Stane followed Stark to the top of the Stark Industries Headquarters where Stark had the giant Arc Reactor blown up. This killed Stane and destroyed the suit.[4]
A.I.M. Operative Controller Universe[]
Obadiah Stane fixated on the armor
- "Insanity is thinking you could build these weapons and then look away when people use them."
- ―Obadiah Stane to Tony Stark[src]
In an alternate universe, Obadiah Stane worked with A.I.M. to study the Mark I Iron Man armor in hopes of recreating it to sell as a weapon. A.I.M. was able to recreate the suit, resulting in the Iron Monger armor. However, they were unable to develop a sufficient power source for the armor. A.I.M. made two attempts to steal a nuclear power source for the armor, both of which were foiled by Tony Stark in a newer armor. Stane eventually got frustrated and stole Stark's Arc Reactor, impressing A.I.M., who used it to power the armor.
Stane used the Arc Reactor to power the armor and programmed it while Stark attempted to convince him to stop. Stane refused and activated the armor, using it to cause damage on a Los Angeles highway. Stark confronted Stane, leading to a fight between the two. Stane used the armor to fight Stark and fly to Stark Industries Headquarters. Stark tricked Stane into standing over the headquarters' Arc Reactor while Pepper Potts activated an electromagnetic pulse from it, short-circuiting the Iron Monger armor and allowing Stark to easily defeat Stane.[5]
Many Versions Attack[]
An Iron Monger armor attacks Iron Man
In an alternate universe, many versions of the armor were created before they were sent to attack Iron Man. However, Stark defeated them.[6]
Capabilities[]
- "My suit is more advanced in every way!"
"How'd you solve the icing problem?"
"Icing problem?"
"Might want to look into it." - ―Iron Monger and Iron Man[src]
Reverse-engineered from Tony Stark's Mark I Iron Man suit, the Iron Monger armor was a powerful, militarized suit created to be the perfect modern weapon, leading Obadiah Stane to boast that, when adequately powered, his suit was "superior in every way" to the Iron Man armor.
The Iron Monger armor was several times larger than the Iron Man suit from which it was derived, primarily due to the fact that Stane was forced to use standard technology to power it. Instead of being worn like a traditional suit of armor, it is instead piloted from a small cockpit inside of the chest cavity, with at least the arms of the suit being controlled independently from within. The chest opened and the helmet swung back in order to allow its operator to enter and leave. Most of the suit's motion was assisted by a set of powerful, external drive pistons visible on the suit's legs, arms, and across its shoulders.
Iron Monger rises up from the ground
The Iron Monger armor gave Obadiah superhuman strength, enabling him to lift 7.5 tons with each arm.[7] Omnium Steel, an alloy of incredible strength, was developed in Stark Industries' Sector 16, specifically for use in the Iron Monger suit. The suit was rather agile for its size, able to quickly catch up to and physically attack an opponent like Iron Man. However, it still had many of the lumbering motions expected of a suit its size and use of drive system.
Iron Monger's laser targeting system
Most of the armor's weaponry was exposed, except for the missile launcher in his shoulder, unlike Iron Man's, whose armor retracts or separates to reveal its weapons. The armor was equipped with a belt-fed, 23mm, six-barreled Gatling gun mounted to its right arm, a rotary grenade launcher mounted to its left arm, Stark S-category missiles, a laser-guided warhead, a stun device, and flight equipment. The Iron Monger's onboard computer had little navigational focus, as the suit was based on Stark's Mark I, which had no computer system. Obadiah made smart targeting the HUD's primary component.
Like Stark's Iron Man armor, Obadiah upgraded the flight capabilities of the Iron Monger suit, giving it flight jets powerful enough to lift the massive suit. The flight jets could either be used during standard operation in short bursts to allow the suit to jump small distances, or the thrusters could reconfigure into a form of flight mode to allow sustained flight.
Iron Monger's armor freezing in mid-air
While boasted to be superior to the Mark III armor, the Iron Monger armor was reverse-engineered from a rudimentary prototype made from scrap metal and designed only for escaping from the Ten Rings Base. Stane only made improvements to firepower, durability, and propulsion systems, but had not thought of the other improvements Stark made to the Marks II and III armors, and had not extensively tested it prior to the Duel of Los Angeles. As such, the armor had at least two key weaknesses: it could not function at the freezing temperatures of the upper atmosphere, as it would freeze over and suffer a complete shutdown, and many of its core mechanics and wiring were setup on the suit's exterior where it could be relatively easily damaged, something Stark exploited to disable its targeting system. These weaknesses could usually be negated as the armor would hardly be required to fly at such heights, and its vastly intimidating appearance and loadout would prevent conventional combatants from getting within close combat range; only Stark, who could fight on something vaguely resembling equal ground and knew both its weaknesses and the threat it posed, could have faced Stane in the armor. As such, despite the design flaws inherited from the Marks I and II, it would have indeed become a game-changing weapon if not for Stark's intervention.[1]
Alternate Versions[]
Appearances[]
| Appearances for the Iron Monger Armor |
|---|
|
In chronological order:
|
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Obadiah Stane built the Iron Monger Armor based around some design notes that Tony Stark accidentally left behind, instead of reverse-engineering the Iron Man Armor: Mark I.
- The Iron Monger armor is never actually referred to as such in the film, although Stane uses the name in a conversation with Stark to describe their roles in life.
- When using the armor, Stane's voice is enhanced to have a deep, intimidating tone.
- Despite having the same design, Iron Monger's armor in the Iron Man Java ME version is the Iron Man Armor: Mark I.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Iron Man
- ↑ Iron Man: A New Hero
- ↑ Iron Man: Teen Novelization
- ↑ Iron Man: The Official Video Game PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version
- ↑ Iron Man: The Official Video Game PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii Version
- ↑ Iron Man: Armor Design Center
- ↑ Marvel Studios: Character Encyclopedia
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