History: The son of a wealthy industrialist, Tony Stark was an inventive mechanical engineering prodigy. He inherited his father's business at age 21, transforming the company, Stark International, into one of the world's leading weapons manufacturers. While in Asia field-testing a suit of battle armor that would enhance a soldier's combat capabilities, Stark was struck in the chest by a piece of shrapnel and taken prisoner by the warlord Wong-Chu. There he was ordered to create a weapon of mass destruction. Only then would he receive the operation needed to save his life.

Along with fellow prisoner Ho Yinsen, a Nobel prize-winning physicist, Stark began work on a modified exoskeleton equipped with heavy weaponry. Yinsen designed the armor's breastplate to sustain the industrialist's wounded heart, a feature he kep secret even from Stark himself. Stark donned the suit in an attempt to escape captivity, but Professor Yinsen was killed in the resulting melee. He gave his own life, buying Stark the critical time needed to charge the armor.

Overcoming the warlord's forces, Stark returned to America and redesigned the suit. Inventing the cover story that Iron Man was his bodyguard, he embarked on a double life as a billionaire industrialist and costumed adventurer. At first little more than a glorified security guard, Iron Man's early opponents included industrial spies and foreign agents, all intent on stealing Stark's defense and military secrets. Over time, Stark ceased simply protecting his own interests. He expanded the scope of his activities to include threats to national and international security. Iron Man even helped to found the team of costumed heroes known as the Avengers, and Stark would go on to become the team's corporate sponsor.

Despite his vast wealth, Stark's life is not perfect. Early in his career, he was forced to wear some form of his armor's breastplate at all times to prevent the inoperable shrapnel from further damaging his heart. Stark is also a recovering alcoholic, and his personal life is often a shambles. In many ways, Iron Man is both Stark's release and a shell he wears to keep the real world out.

Iron Man's enemies have taken a variety of forms, from would-be world conquerors and corporate rivals to super-criminals and foreign agents who have emulated or stolen his technology. Among his foes are the armored villains called the Titanium man, the Crimson Dynamo, and the Controller; the energy-based Living-Laser; and the Mandarin, a would-be conqueror who controls ten powerful, alien rings created by the Dragon-like Makluan race. Iron Man was the first Earth-champion to encounter the Mad Titan, Thanos, and helped thwart his initial plans on Earth with the help of Drax the Destroyer, and Mentor. Months later, Iron Man - alongside the Thing of the Fantastic Four - would defeat Thanos' thralls, the Blood Brothers, and prevent him from gaining a major beach-head on Earth. Years later, during Thanos' plan to commit stellar genocide, Iron Man would again deal a major blow to Thanos' plans by destroying the Titan's synthetic Star-Gem, the device he needed in order to fully realize his plans, a setback which caused a critical delay, and eventually led to Thanos' death.

As Iron Man's opponents and needs have changed, so has the hero's armor, moving from one design to the next as changing times demand near-constant improvements and upgrades in order to meet the challenges Stark must face. One suit in particular was so advanced it gained sentience and attempted to replace Stark as Iron Man. Armed only with his wits, Stark severely damaged this artificially intelligent Sentient Armor. Seeking to die like a man, and to know the meaning of sacrifice, the suit self-terminated -- leaving its creator with a new, mechanical heart fashioned from its power source.

Stark has grown to feel more responsible for the use of his technology throughout the world. He has realized that by and large, his legacy is one of destruction and warfare, as nations employ his early inventions to oppress and kill. This burden weighed heavily upon Stark, and eventually Stark Enterprises broke off its relationship with the government, focusing instead on technology that would enhance human life.

Taught as a youth to give back to those who help him live such a comfortable life, Stark has established numerous charities and foundations. With his growing sense of responsibility, he has achieved a new level of maturity. Seeing his secret identity more as a liability than an asset, Stark chose to reveal to the world that he is Iron Man. The weight of a double life off his shoulders, Stark finds himself in unfamiliar territory as one of the planet's few public heroes.

Height: 6' 1"
Eyes: Blue
Weight: 185 lbs
Hair: Black

Strength level: Without his armor Tony Stark possesses the normal strength of a normal human man his age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular exercise. Every version of the Iron Man armor enhances the strength of the wearer to varying degrees. The first version of the armor boosted Stark's strength by a factor of ten, allowing him to lift (press) about 1 ton. The far superior Mk 5 armor would later allow him to lift up to 75 tons. The strength levels of his more recent main-line armors hover between 85-90 tons under normal conditions, but he can boost that to class 100 (able to lift in excess of 100 tons) for brief periods if circumstances warrant.

Known superhuman powers: None.

Abilities: Tony Stark is a genius who is a responsible for numerous major discoveries, inventions, and other achievements in various areas of technology. Stark also has been trained to be a formidable hand-to-hand fighter, both with and without the Iron Man armor.

Paraphernalia: Iron Man wears a sophisticated suit of body armor containing various sensors, and offensive weaponry. The precise specifications of the armor have differed from one model to the next. However, below are some of the more common abilities and devices built into each version of the main-line armor:

• Shell Composition - Most versions of the armor since the Mk 3 are composed of an ingenious ultra-fine 3-D knitted metal mesh ( composed of a high carbon, steel/iron alloy ) that is polarized to solid-metal hardness via a magnetic field. This composition makes each suit both extremely strong and extremely flexible, allowing the wearer to express almost the full range of human movement.

• Power Source - Most versions use a variety of power sources, from solar, to battery storage. Most versions are also able to re-charge via electrical sources, and many also contain thermocouples that allow the suit to siphon and store power from extreme heat and cold. Some versions also used beta-particle generators.

• Control Systems - Starting with the Mk 5, every version of the armor has an integrated cybernetic interface and battle-computer. Later versions even allow the battle-computer to take over certain functions as needed.

• Life Support - Early versions contained an electronic pacemaker to aid Stark's weakened heart. His artificial heart has eliminated the need for this. Early versions of the suit could be sealed off, and contained an oxygen supply that would last 1-2 hours. Later versions could recycle oxygen, and thus extend the supply for up to 2 days. The suit can operate in a variety of potentially hostile environments, such as in space, and underwater.

• Boot Jets - Every version of the Iron Man armor has contained a type of boot-jet, allowing the suit to fly to varying degrees. However, the Mk 5 was the first time that the high-speed, gyroscopic turbines could be made small enough so that several could be installed within each boot. This allowed the armor to fly faster, farther, more efficiently, and with greater maneuverability and a greater thrust-to-mass ratio. The top speed varies by armor type, but recent models are capable of easily breaking the sound-barrier. The jets are also capable of allowing Iron Man to carry or lift heavy objects while in-flight.

• Force Field - Aside from the armor-polarizing magnetic field, several versions of the armor contain generators allowing the wearer to generate true force-fields, capable of deflecting, reflecting, or absorbing many different forms of attack. As a by-product of the polarizing field, the suit also absorbs radar and sonar, making Iron Man hard to detect using these methods.

• Repuslor Beams - This weapon (one on each palm) is a pulsed, laser-path guided, medium-density plasma projector. They have been installed almost every version of the armor since the Mk 3. The repulsor works by ionizing a shaft of air ahead of a stream of neutrons. These projected neutrons then strike the target, producing a burst of sub-atomic particles which pushes the target away from the beam's impact-point (the "repulsing" effect). The palm-repuslor is Iron Man's primary weapon system.

• Unibeam - This is a variable intensity light source. It can be used as a spotlight or tightly-focused for use as a laser-beam, and it can project both infrared and ultraviolet light. Some models could also be adjusted for use as a "tractor" beam. Later models could project holographic images, and a powerful Electromagnetic (EMP) pulse.

• Sensors - Since the Mk 5, most versions carry a full-Band transceiver, allowing for both audio and visual communications and monitoring. The sensor-suite also allows for detection via Radar, Sonar, and Infrared. The sensors can also detect and decipher Electrical and Magnetic fields. Later versions also featured X-Ray and MRI scanning.

• Miscellaneous Devices - Almost too many to list. However, here are a few: Freon Emitters (for cooling or freezing objects), Fire-Supression Spray/Foam, Pulse-Bolts (which pick up more ambient energy the farther they go), Sonic-Emitters (great for crowd-supression), Language Translator, Disruptor Fields, and even a built-in Cellular Phone.

Specialty Armors: Over the years, Tony Stark has found that certain extreme situations warrant an armor designed for certain purposes. Some of these armors are so specialized that they are only suitable in certain situations, but a few are versatile enough for regular use:

• Low Observable (Stealth) Armor - To date, 3 different models of this Stealth armor have been created. All are designed to be virtually invisible to radar, sonar, camera, and several other sensor types (via wave modifiers that "bend" radar and other waveforms around the armor), making this armor almost impossible to detect. The first two models are almost identical in appearance and basic composition, although the first model lacks any offensive weapons. The second model has a 3-shot repulsor capacity, tunneling ability, and a refractory coating that can be altered, allowing the armor to change color in a limited fashion (from black to white for example). The 3rd model is a radical, new mission-specific design that uses composite ceramics and kevlar-like polymers that not only render the armor invisible to radar and other means of detection, but also make the armor highly resistant to the destructive properties of vibranium.

• Space Armor - As with the stealth model, at least 3 versions of this armor have been built thus far. Unlike his main-line armors, the first 2 versions have been constructed to be non-collapsable, which allows them to better withstand the conditions in deep-space. They are powered by both solar-energy, and a micro-nuclear reactor. Each carries a full complement of standard weaponry (repulsors, uni-beam), although these versions pack a little more "punch". Each version also boasts improved life-support capability, and comes complete with oxygen scrubbers which allow the wearer to survive up to two days in orbit. Last, and certainly not least, are the nuclear-powered boot-jets, capable of achieving escape-velocity. The 3rd version seems to be a special case, and is designed to be incredibly maneuverable. It isn't as durable as the other versions, and uses a beta-particle generator as opposed to the micro-nuclear reactor for most of its power. This version cannot reach escape-velocity unaided, and must utilize a small rocket-booster to achieve orbit. Lastly, the armor also features an experimental "solar-sail" that can be deployed in the event of catastrophic systems-failure, and then used to propel Iron Man to safety.

• Hydro Armor - A deep submergence model, designed for quick response to deep-water emergencies. The design of this suit allows it to withstand pressures up to 8,000 PSI (Pounds per Square Inch), making it capable of diving up to 3 miles down. The suit was powered via solar-energy, and a micro-nuclear reactor, and featured not only the air-breathing boot-jets, but also water-breathing impellers which allowed for superior maneuverability underwater. It was armed with modified repulsors, Stark's first tri-beam configuration, mini-torpedoes, an ink "smokescreen", and an electric field generator. Like the Space Armor, the life-support system included oxygen scrubbers which would allow the user to survive underwater for up to 2 days. Lastly, this armor boasted an emergency escape system that used a secondary suit of inner-armor which could be jettisoned in an extreme emergency. This inner-suit was limited in both range and offensive capablity, but it would allow the wearer to rapidly escape to the surface if the need arose.

• Variable Threat Response Battle-Suit, aka "War Machine" - This suit was designed to wage total-war if called upon, and as such it is capable of responding in kind to varying threat-levels. The suit is enhanced by a poly-carbonite outer-layer that blunts the impact of energy-based weapons, the presence of an improved battle-computer, and better night-vision capability. Its armaments include not only the standard palm repulsors, pulse-bolts, and the improved uni-beam, but also a full-compliment of Stark's most adavanced weapons-designs, such as a shoulder-mounted mini-gun; a shoulder-mounted box missile launcher; a gauntlet-mounted chain-gun and flamethrower, and even an energy blade, and force-shield. The guns and launchers boasted mission-selectable rounds, including spent-uranium armor-piercing, high-explosive, concussion-type, high-temperature thermite, tear-gas, tracer-rounds, flare-rounds, and smoke-rounds. The first version of this battle-ready armor was used by Tony Stark himself. However, Stark soon designed a second version that was given to his long-time friend, and Iron-Man "replacement", James Rhodes.

• Neuromimetic Telepresence Armor (NTU-150) - Unlike previous versions, this armor is a fully-articulated, remote-controlled device rather than a suit of wearable combat armor. This unit used a revolutionary new Stark technology called "Telepresence" which allowed it to be operated under full virtual control. For the user, the interface was so advanced and seamless, it was the next best thing to actually being there. Also, the extra interior space (that would ordinarily be taken up by the wearer) allowed for the inclusion of a wide variety of "fold-out" weapons and devices, which greatly increased the versatility of this model.

• "Hulk-Buster" Armor - This model isn't a true armor, but rather an exoskeletal add-on which fits over Stark's "modular" armor. It was specifically designed to combat the Hulk (while in his intelligent form, as opposed to the savage version), and as such it boasts Magno-Hydrolic Pseudomusculature which greatly enhances the strength of the wearer, boosting it to an amazing superhuman class 175. It also carried sensors that could scan for gamma radiation sources, such as the Hulk himself.

• "Thor-Buster" Armor - Like the "Hulk-Buster" model, this armor was actually an exoskeleton that fitted over an improved version of Stark's old Mk 5 armor. It was designed specifically to tackle Thor, should he go rogue. It was powered by a mysterious element that had been given to Stark by Thor himself in the hopes that it could be used as a new energy source for mankind. The exact nature of the elemental fragment was unknown, however was was certain was that it radiated intense mystical energy. Stark was able to fashion an experimental reactor that was able to tap into the fragment's energy emissions, and generate power. Stark then fitted his new armor with this reactor, which allowed it to tap into the same source of energy that gave Thor's uru hammer, Mjolnir, its strength. Thus, this armor was able to absorb a wide variety of mystical energies, such as those channeled through Thor's hammer, and then use it against an attacker in a variety of ways. Every system aboard this new armor was powered via the mystical reactor, allowing for magic-based repulsors, boot-jets, sensors, super-strength (at least superhuman class 100), and life-support.