A.D. Doug was born on the Sacred Timeline where he grew up to become an author and scientist. He lived in a bigger home with a large space.[2]
TVA Agent[]
Taken by He Who Remains[]
Doug later became a Variant that diverted from the timeline's course of events and was abducted by He Who Remains, who suppressed his memories and took him to the Time Variance Authority. He was then designated as to work at the Repairs and Advancement department and named Ouroboros, dealing with the daily repairing of malfunctioning devices and designing new items for the TVA.[1] Ouroboros eventually redecorated the department, subconsiously making it look like his old home.[3] Over hundreds of years, Ouroboros took inspiration from Victor Timely to write a TVA Guidebook including all instructions to all devices[4] which was placed at every desk. He was asked to run diagnostics on the Temporal Loom every few hundred years.[1]
One day, while Ouroboros was working, he met Loki, who was time-slipping and arrived at the TVA in the past. Loki greeted Ouroboros by name and asked to call him "O.B.," which Ouroboros liked. Loki explained that he was being pulled through time, which Ouroboros recognized as Time Slipping, but said it was impossible to do in the Time Variance Authority and struggled to reconcile the information. Ouroboros insisted that it was impossible, and then realized that it would have been better if they were having the conversation in the future.
Loki started to get frustrated at Ouroboros' insistence that it was impossible, and asked how he would rid himself of his condition as a hypothetical. Ouroboros told him someone in the time he wanted to end up needed to use a Temporal Aura Extractor. Ouroboros built one, and Loki asked him to hang onto it until Mobius arrived. Ouroboros explained that Loki had to prune himself in order for the plan to work. Loki asked what would happen if the plan did not work, so Ouroboros explained that he would be spaghettified. Ouroboros turned his eyes away and Loki disappeared.[1]
Friendship with Mobius M. Mobius[]
Ouroboros' workspace was frequently visited by Mobius M. Mobius, and the two developed a friendship. One time, Mobius got off the elevator on the wrong floor and Ouroboros told Mobius about his mistake. Mobius then left the room. Ouroboros did not have another visitor for four hundred years and as those years went on, Mobius grew to forget that he met Ouroboros, only knowing that he existed.[1]
While Ouroboros was working, Mobius M. Mobius and Loki arrived in his office. Ouroboros cheerfully greeted Mobius, who had forgotten him and got him to introduce himself to Loki. Ouroboros reminisced with Mobius, who got details of their past wrong, and Ouroboros corrected him. Ouroboros received a work order, so he quickly handled it while explaining that if he did not, they would begin to pile up. Ouroboros asked what was happening when Loki suddenly time slipped in front of them. Ouroboros recognized it, but said that he could not fix it since it was supposed to be impossible to time slip in the Time Variance Authority's headquarters and struggled to reconcile the information.
Ouroboros insisted that it could not have been time slipping since he had never seen it before. However, as Loki talked to the younger Ouroboros, he remembered the events occurring. Believing now that Loki was time slipping, Ouroboros recounted his conversation with Loki to Mobius. When Ouroboros got to the part where he told Loki they would need a Temporal Aura Extractor, Mobius asked if he had one. Ouroboros initially did not have one, but as his past self made one for Loki, he remembered that he did. Mobius asked how to use it, so Ouroboros explained that Mobius would need to deploy it in the Temporal Loom. Ouroboros warned that if Mobius was not quick enough, his skin would be peeled off. However, he added that it was not as bad as what Loki had to do, which was prune himself.[1]
Loki reappeared in the present, and he and Mobius M. Mobius argued over who had the worse job while Ouroboros watched. Loki asked if there was another way, but Ouroboros simply offered Loki a Time Stick. Ouroboros noticed his lamp flickering, but Mobius explained that the entire Time Variance Authority was experiencing power surges, not just his lamp. This worried Ouroboros, who rushed with Loki and Mobius to the Temporal Loom.
Mobius and Loki explained that the timeline was branching, and Ouroboros realized that the branching was overloading the Temporal Loom as Hunter B-15 joined them. Loki did not recognize the term "Temporal Loom," so Ouroboros gave him a copy of the Time Variance Authority Official Handbook and bragged about having written it. A piece of the Temporal Aura Extractor came off, concerning Mobius. However, a light broke behind the group before Ouroboros could respond to Mobius' concerns, and they all entered the room where the Temporal Loom was managed. Ouroboros explained the Temporal Loom's purpose as he checked on it, noting that it was overloading since it was not built to handle so many branches and saying it was a disaster.
Mobius guessed that Ouroboros did not visit the the Temporal Loom often, and Ouroboros confirmed, saying that Miss Minutes did most of the work on it and he just ran diagnostics every few hundred years. Loki asked how to stop the meltdown, so Ouroboros suggested pruning the branches. However, B-15 refused to allow it, since it result in countless people dying. Ouroboros said that he could protect the TVA by lowering the blast doors and retrofitting them to protect the TVA, adding that they only had until he succeeded to stop Loki's Time Slipping. Loki prepared to prune himself, but Ouroboros stopped him, explaining that they needed to wait for Mobius to be ready. Ouroboros started to prepare as B-15 left and Loki time slipped away.
Ouroboros gave Mobius a space suit and set it up, warning Mobius to rush back inside before the blast doors close, lest he die. Ouroboros fixed a crack on Mobius' helmet using duct tape and went upstairs to work on the blast doors. He watched from upstairs as Mobius approached the Loom. As Mobius activated the Aura Extractor, Ouroboros started working on the blast doors. Loki did not come through the Temporal Loom, and Ouroboros told Mobius that the blast doors needed to be closed. Mobius asked for more time, but Ouroboros prepared to close the doors, saying they only had thirty seconds. Ouroboros counted down, and apologized before closing the blast doors. Ouroboros watched Mobius continue to wait and told Mobius that there was nothing he could do for Loki. Mobius was convinced to turn around, but Ouroboros realized that he would not make it.[1]
"Yeah, I can definitely get into it. Do you think this is a higher priority than preventing a Temporal meltdown?" "Oh, no. I'd stay focused on the Temporal meltdown." "I agree." "Seems prudent. Okay."
Ouroboros continued to work on fixing the Temporal Loom and was visited by Loki and Mobius M. Mobius. Ouroboros greeted the pair and explained that he was attempting to create a device to help the Loom handle the new branches. Mobius asked Ouroboros to look at a TemPad, so he got up and looked at, interested in the way it had been modified. He assured Mobius that he would be able to look at it and asked whether it was a higher priority than the potential temporal meltdown. Loki and Mobius both assured Ouroboros that the meltdown was more important, so Ouroboros gave them a copy of the TVA Guidebook, saying that it contained everything there was to know about the TemPad. He then got back to work on his device.[5]
Ouroboros brought the device he was working on into the room to manage the Temporal Loom and started working on it. He attempted to log in to the computer, but was denied access due to having an invalid temporal aura, worrying Ouroboros. Hunter B-15 visited with Casey, and Ouroboros shouted to them that they were all going to die. He explained that the blast doors would not open, so Casey attempted to use one of Ouroboros' codes. Ouroboros explained that he knew it would not work since he wrote it, and Casey suddenly realized who he was. Casey asked for an autograph, and Ouroboros agreed, but B-15 interrupted them to remind them about the emergency. He explained that only the temporal aura of He Who Remains or an override from Miss Minutes could open the doors. He explained that he would build a device to contain the growing Multiverse, but that it would not matter if they could not find a way in.
Ouroboros helps with the dying branches
Casey called Ouroboros for help regarding the tracking of Reset Charges which were placed by Dox's soldiers in an attempt to prune all of the branching timelines. Casey and Ouroboros worked on the problem together. Once the attack was over, Ouroboros and Casey stood silently together and watched the screen as they realized how many people had been killed. Casey suddenly found Ravonna Renslayer's TemPad, and Ouroboros looked at the screen revealing the information.[5]
Needing Miss Minutes[]
Ouroboros explains their dilemma
"We need to scale the loom's capacity to manage all those new branches, otherwise it will fail. And the TVA will be destroyed. And we're all gonna die."
Although the bombing granted the Temporal Loom reprieve, Ouroboros and Casey returned to work as the branches grew back, again overwhelming it. Loki asked how they could get in through the blast doors, but Ouroboros explained that he did not know how to do it without He Who Remains' temporal aura. B-15 asked how long they had, so he explained that the Loom would fail if they did not improve the loom's ability to handle the new branches. Mobius M. Mobius suggested hacking the system, exciting Ouroboros, but Mobius and Loki clarified that it was an idea and he did not know whether it was possible. Ouroboros explained that it was not and they would still die.
Ouroboros continues his attempts to fix the Temporal Loom
Casey suggested they find Miss Minutes, and Ouroboros agreed that she could help due to her adminstrator access to the Time Variance Authority. They agreed that tracking Ravonna Renslayer would be the best way to find Miss Minutes, so Mobius and Loki left to do so while Ouroboros continued to work.[6] As they planned, they created a model of the Loom and the space surrounding it. However, due to their rush, they were unable to make the model to scale and could only include one coat of paint, disappointing Ouroboros. They worked on a Throughput Multiplier to scale the Loom's capacity to handle the branches.[4]
"You wrote the TVA Handbook?" "Well... Yes, I did. But I learned everything I know from a brilliant 19th-century inventor named Victor Timely. If he'd had the resources, he would have been bigger than Einstein."
Ouroboros and Casey continued trying to find solutions, but Casey concluded that the Temporal Loom would still fail. Loki, Mobius M. Mobius, and Sylvie Laufeydottir then arrived and introduced Casey and Ouroboros to Victor Timely, who recognized Ouroboros as the author of the TVA Guidebook. Ouroboros confessed to having been inspired by Timely, before the two realized that they had inspired each other's work in a time loop. They tried to exchange autographs, but Sylvie interrupted and asked them to resume fixing.
Ouroboros and Casey took our their model of the Loom, and Ouroboros apologized for its craftsmanship, adding that he is embarassed that Timely was seeing it. Ouroboros explained that someone would need to take the Throughput Multiplier to the launcher and launch it toward the Loom so that it could scale the Loom's capacity to handle the branches. He turned to Sylvie as he mentioned the branches and noted that they had ruined his life. Loki asked about the connection between the Multiplier and the Loom, so Casey and Ouroboros explained that they needed to make them bigger. Ouroboros noted that the temporal radiation had increased since Mobius went out there, so Mobius said that Loki would have to move quickly. Mobius and Loki argued about who would go, but Ouroboros interrupted and said that it did not matter who it was. Sylvie suggested they stop delaying, but Casey noted another problem. Ouroboros explained that they could not get the Multiplier to work, but Timely correctly guessed the reason and offered his prototype which would allow it to work. Ouroboros noted that it would take a long time to integrate, but Timely assured him that they could do it together.[4]
Temporal Meltdown[]
Ouroboros realizes Miss Minutes is interfering with the technology
Ouroboros, Casey, and Victor Timely successfully integrated Timely's invention as Mobius M. Mobius came to check in on their progress. However, while Mobius and Timely talked, Casey noted that diagnostics had gone down. The TemPad stopped working, so Ouroboros stopped to borrow Mobius', but it did not work either. They realized that Miss Minutes corrupted the files and rushed to get Timely. However, they found that he had been taken. Hunter B-15 then revealed that Dox and her loyalists were killed. B-15 asked if the Throughput Multiplier, so Ouroboros explained that it was untested but ready, noting that it did not matter without Timely.
Ouroboros, Casey, Mobius, and B-15 brought the Multiplier to the Temporal Loom and rushed to start working as they ran out of time. Ouroboros called Loki to ask what was taking so long, so Loki explained that Miss Minutes was sabotaging things to slow them down. Ouroboros suggested rebooting the system to shut her down, which Mobius agreed to. Ouroboros was hesitant to lose the security protocols, including the one that dampened magic, but Loki and Sylvie heard him say it and told him to shut it down, so he did.
Loki and Sylvie returned with Timely, and Ouroboros convinced him to put his head in the Temporal Aura scanner. Timely opened the blast doors, and Ouroboros realized that it was worse than he thought. He asked who would go out, so Loki volunteered. However, Timely insisted it should be him. Ouroboros took Timely and insisted there was no time to argue. He told Timely to get suited up and move as quickly as possible. Ouroboros wished Timely luck as he went downstairs. Sylvie asked how long he would have, so Ouroboros said it would not be long. Once Timely reported that he was ready, Ouroboros opened the door, and Timely immediately disintegrated, horrifying Timely. Ouroboros realized that the radiation levels were too high. The Loom exploded, and Ouroboros watched in horror as the explosion rushed toward the Time Variance Authority Office.[4]
Looped[]
Ouroboros sees the failure
"What could we have done differently?" "Good question. We took too long."
This explosion was offset by Loki, who used Time Slipping to go back to when Ouroboros was directing Victor Timely. As Timely went down the stairs, Loki told Ouroboros that they needed to get Timely out of there. Having no recollection of what happened afterwards, Ouroboros just went to the monitor. He watched as Timely walked out into the Temporal Radiation, only to be killed immediately. Standing in shock once again, Ouroboros gave the same conclusion that the rediation was too high. Loki then approached him and asked what they could have done better. Ouroboros said they took too long.
With this, Loki slipped back to be even faster. Here, Ouroboros grabbed Timely quickly and began to explain what to do. Loki then explained it to a tea very fast, confusing Ouroboros, who said it was exactly right. However, Loki repeated many many times only to fail every time. Loki then slipped to even earlier to before Ouroboros met Timely. At this moment, Ouroboros was working on a solution with Casey when Loki walked in, introducing Ouroboros to Timely. He then broke the exciting news that it was in fact the Timely that Ouroboros learned everything from. Ouroboros walked around the counter and happily shook hands with his hero.
Ouroboros looks at the model
Loki then took the model Temporal Loom that Ouroboros was working on and started using it to explain what everyone needed to do. Worried about making a bad impression on Timely, Ouroboros told everyone that it was not finished and he needed an extra coat of paint. However, Loki assured him it was perfect. Loki talked about latching the Throughput Multiplier onto the Loom, which Ouroboros agreed would work, however, he said they had not finished the multiplier. Loki then took an item out of Timely's bag saying that it would help them create the multiplier.
Ouroboros then brought up another problem that they still would not be able to finish it in time. Loki asked Ouroboros how long it would take him to learn everything that Ouroboros knew. Ouroboros asked how much Loki knew at the moment. loki replied saying not a lot, but he was a god and a fast learner. Ouroboros broke the news saying it would take decades. Timely then chimed in saying it would be centuries.
Having spent centuries learning, Loki returned and brought everyone to the core room where he worked through every problem that people threw at him. Mobius M. Mobius remarked at how Ouroboros had to watch out as Loki was coming for his job. Loki found this joke fakily amusing. As Loki had Timely show his Temporal Aura to open the blast doors, Ouroboros asked who would get into the Temporal Core Suit. Loki said it was timely as he volunteered. Timely then suited up and went out.
As everyone watched by the doors, Timely went out into the storm and made it through. They eagerly waited as Timely was able to complete his mission and return back, causing everyone to celebrate. However, Ouroboros stood at the window checking out the Loom and believed it worked. He then rushed to the monitor and saw the readings. He then voiced concerns, telling Loki that it was not working. Loki grew confused as everything was calculated correctly. Timely then realized that they could not expand the loom enough because the Multiverse was infinite. The branches would always be greater than the rings. As the Loom exploded, Loki slipped again.
Ouroboros states his confusion over the events
Loki returned to the same moment as before, but instead of directing Timely, he peacefully walked down the stairs himself. The group watched from the window as Loki walked out on the gangway, allowing the radiation to rip his clothes and revealing new green drapes. Ouroboros looked on as Loki used his magic to rip apart the loom, destroying the branches as they fell around him. Overlooking the darkness of a void now, they saw Loki grabs the branches and bring them to life with magic. He then carried the branches through a rift, allowing him to liberate the Multiverse with him as the loom.[7]
The Time Variance Authority started turning its attention to the Multiverse now that it was liberated. Ouroboros soon reprogrammed Miss Minutes, rebooting her. Hunter B-15 stated her worry and asked if she would turn back into the villain. All Ouroboros could muster was a shrug as he had no idea himself. B-15 remarked at how she liked his confidence. Ouroboros returned to his office where he opened a box displaying the second edition of the Time Variance Authority Official Handbook. This time, the book gave credit to Victor Timely as well.[7]
Personality[]
"The work orders really pile up if I take a break, so I just keep at it. Forever. No sleep."
Ouroboros is a diligent and mild-mannered worker who dedicated himself to his work at the Time Variance Authority. As the head of Repairs and Advancement, he took it upon himself to write an official handbook explaining the inner workings of the entire Time Variance Authority, including all devices and equipment. Not wanting work orders to get backed up, Ouroboros works continuously without breaking, even for sleep, and is content to do so. His intelligence shines in his work, as he is able to quickly invent and create the Temporal Aura Extractor during a single conversation, and was able to recall the specific details of that same conversation centuries later.
Due to the nature of his work, Ouroboros is always alone and rarely gets any visitors from other departments of the TVA, who only send issues or problematic devices to Ouroboros through Pneumatic Tubes and had not visited him in four hundred years. Therefore, Ouroboros seemed to be very surprised and happy when he sees visitors such as Mobius M. Mobius and Loki, and considers them to be his friends as they are the only people he has seen for a long time, exhibiting a friendly and kind demeanor. He cares deeply about Mobius, his friend, and waited to the very last second before closing the blast door, which could have locked him out, because Mobius wanted to give Loki more time to save himself.
Genius-Level Intellect: Ouroboros is extremely intelligent, being able to create and repair many devices. He was able to precisely devise a plan to rid Loki of his time-slipping issue, by using a Temporal Aura Extractor to extract the temporal aura of a person while pruned, even though he previously claimed to not have seen this problem and was unable to fix it.
Master Engineer:
Ouroboros using the Temporal Core controls
Ouroboros specializes in engineering and is exceptionally masterful at it, having been designated as the only employee of the R&A department, being capable of repairing TemPads and having authored the TVA Guidebook. When Loki arrived in the past to ask Ouroboros for help to rid him of his time-slipping, Ouroboros was capable of constructing a Temporal Aura Extractor from scratch within a short period of time. He is also one of the few TVA employees who knew the precise workings of all devices, even being able to control the Temporal Loom.
Master Scientist: To be added
Equipment[]
Time Stick: Ouroboros kept a Time Stick with him in his workspace, which he gave to Loki so that he could prune himself to end his Time Slipping. However, Loki time slipped without the Time Stick, so he did not get to use it.
The Temporal Aura Extractor was created by Ouroboros and Loki to help the latter solve his time-slipping condition after Loki time slipped into the past to consult Ouroboros. During the centuries that followed, the Temporal Aura Extractor was kept in Repairs & Advancement until Mobius M. Mobius reminded Ouroboros that such a device existed.
Time Variance Authority Official Handbook: The TVA Guidebook was written by Ouroboros to help other TVA agents deal with trivial issues with their technology and devices by providing detailed instructions and manuals to these workings. A guidebook was placed on each desk.
Pneumatic Tube: Ouroboros received work orders through a pneumatic tube. Once he completed the order, he sent the work back through the tube.
Ouroboros resided at the office where he often stayed in the Repairs & Advancement section, not taking any breaks or else the work would pile up. However, every few hundred years, he would also work in the Temporal Core which overlooked the Temporal Loom.
In the comics, Mr. Orobourous is a clone of Mr. Paradox and a TVA judge who presided during the trial of She-Hulk.
In original concept art, Ouroboros is depicted as a Variant of Mobius M. Mobius.[8]
In the episode Heart of the TVA, when talking about Ouroboros learning from Victor Timely and vice versa, Ouroboros remarks that it is like a snake eating its own tail. In ancient mythology, the Ouroboros is a serpent or dragon that eats its own tail.
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