Iron Man's Rogues Gallery - Some Thoughts

originally posted in REBUILDING IRON MAN'S ROGUES GALLERY on the old forums

most of tony's villains went into limbo so I believe it still applies here.

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Gideon should be an iron man villian.

He's the ultimate corporate villain.

Give him a makeover that would make him awesome in a cyberpunk 2020 style, redefine his abilities (explain how he duplicates the x-factor of other mutants and maybe put a limitation or 2) and give them kewl techno-sword thingies, but he prefers to let his henchmen take care of violence. Give him a touch of that Virgin CEO in personality and have him do outrageous things sometimes just cause he can.

He has nothing less then a sterling reputation as a fortune 500 trendsetter to the outside world.

If Xavier's mansion really ticks him off, foreclose and/or release video tapes of their activities to the media, which he controls. Give them a pr nightmare. Plus draft an x-men or two to get better benefits, using the same rational why the FF became celebrities instead of outcasts.

Have him donate millions to genetic research for his own usage, maybe even sponsor sinister for his own plans.

Have privately run orphanages sponsored by him to see if he can find "promising" minions.

Have him outflank the hero's by having them dealing with brush files, while he strikes several places at the same time.

Give him a descent 21st century marvel technology, a descent trading relationship with Wakanda and Lativara, and quite a bit of that old iron curtain technology all merged together with some of the brightest minds on the payroll.

And after frustrating the heroes in ways from 5 to 6 different ways, he smiles shakes hands and goes home, because their actions have helped him in his own objectives.

Do this and he would have been awesome.

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Circuit Breaker - although originally created for the transformer marvel comic, with her phobias/hatred of mechanized life forms, raw intelligence and sheer power level (to say nothing of the cheesecake factor), she could be a great foil if redone for tony. 

Plus her em pulse could really give tony a miserable time now that he has nanites in him.

Circuit Breaker is owned entirely by Marvel, so no problem integrating her entirely.

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The thing is, Iron Man is the personification of what gamers called power creep.

As we learn more about the science of the world and how it works, characters like Reed Richards and Iron man will only get more powerful over time. Because what was considered super science becomes normal, even expected.

The thing is with characters like this, long term adversaries must be able to duplicate this affect over time (such as great characters as Doctor Doom and Techno have been able to prove) or have abilities that are designed to keep pace and/or strike at a consistent Achilles heel of the character.

Both characters I have suggested being repackaged (Circuit Breaker and Gideon) would be able to keep pace with Iron Man and be excellent additions to the rogue gallery.

Crimson Dynamo and/or Titanium man could be a great repackaging in a manner like Omega Red, a soldier out of time that could be a hoot. Especially if he makes some sort of "faustian deal" to keep pace with iron man. Maybe give a touch of "weird wars" to give it a creepy feel.

Not really a fan of the name Spymaster but the concept of a corporate spy extraordinaire is a good one and could be used throughout the series.

Living Laser concept is a riot, but he needs to keep pace with what lasers can do in the modern world. give him the ability to use the laser to generate missile locks with automated drones and it could be nasty. Also if he starts using military Ladar, he could be really frightening, especially for his own purposes. to say nothing of a very simple, yet nasty thing.

Give a bunch of associates your standard laser pointers, and have them pester tony during a pr presentation. Simply amp it up using his natural abilities and one serious strike against him.

To say nothing about good old fashion cd burners and what you can do with it.

here's a link to brainstorm further laser applications. Feel free to add others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser

The Controller is bonded to his suit and has the marvel equivalent of cerebro shells, he could make a great "behind the scenes" villain. In fact if he really takes it to tony after his inevitable falling out with shield. Act as a shadow to give tony a luck that makes spidey look incredibly lucky. 

Make Ghost an ecoterrorist and give him a real axe to grind against tony (perhaps being right, heck, it worked for magneto. Give him firebrand as a minion and it could be fun.

Manderin is dead, and Temugin has made peace with tony, but make it a shaky peace that could come apart at any moment (especially with any of the above) and it may bring him back into full villain status.

The B-stringer Power armors should be used as pawns to put tony in places to make him miserable and set up "no win situations"

I like the idea of making AIM a dedicated Iron Man villain organization, especially if manipulated by either Gideon and/or Temugin.

and if you want somebody nasty, get a character who can alter liquids at a touch, and change a certain tony's IV into alcohol after being hospitalized. Opened to suggestions on that one.

Fin Fang Foom is a neat concept, but alien dragons have to be used sparingly. to be honest, he sounds like a great Hulk Villain.

Ultimo sounds like a great puppet for somebody with the skills to harness him. Pick a villain above who can, and away you go.

Justin Hammer is useful, and if played smartly could help bankroll any of the above.