History ComicBook / IronMan

[[index]]
[[folder:Iron Man Comic Books and Storylines]]
* ''ComicBook/ArmorWars''
* ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' (crossover with ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'')
* ''ComicBook/HeroesRebornIronMan'' (set in the ComicBook/HeroesReborn universe)
* ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006''
* ''ComicBook/SuperiorIronMan''
* ''ComicBook/CivilWarII''
* ''ComicBook/InfamousIronMan''
* ''ComicBook/IronMan2020Event''
* ''ComicBook/IronMan2020Ongoing''
* ''ComicBook/IronCat''
* ''ComicBook/InvincibleIronMan2022''
* ''ComicBook/IAmIronMan''
[[/folder]]
[[/index]]

!!This Franchise/MarvelUniverse comic book provides examples of:

** To tie in with Iron Man 2, Marvel created a new power-armored Whiplash named Anton Vanko, who confusingly has no relation to the Anton Vanko who was the first Crimson Dynamo, and despite being released at the same time as Iron Man 2 is also not the same Whiplash as in the movie.

* SuperIntelligence: He is ranked among the smartest persons on earth in the Marvel Universe with Super-Genius class intelligence.

** Played straight with the 'Jarvis' A.I. in the Rescue armor he created for Pepper Potts -- which worked just fine for a while, and then fell in love with her obsessively, holding her hostage until he was destroyed by Jim Rhodes.
** Played completely straight with late-volume-1 villain VOR/TEX, a disembodied artificial intelligence which used Tony's artificial (at the time) nervous system to steal his body and take his place. While occupying Tony's body, he... misbehaves.

*** Jennifer Walters, in her own comic, encountered a completely amoral lawyer, the head of Tony's legal department who chose to be known simply as 'Legal' and displayed absolutely not a shred of morality either way. He would later show up in ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}''.

* {{Archenemy}}: In his earlier years, this role was held by either The Mandarin, Justin Hammer, or Obadiah Stane, depending on who you asked.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy:
** The Mandarin is a proud and arrogant man whose martial arts skills let him tear through Tony's Iron Man suits with his bare hands.
** Also the Masters of Silence.
* TheArtifact: The Tony Stark on Earth-616 isn't the original. He's actually a combination of the original Tony, brainwashed, killed, then brought back to life, and a teenage Tony from another dimension. This resulted from ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'', and Marvel never mentioned it again, hoping for everyone to just forget about it.
** And then they did ''practically the exact same thing'' for the 2015 Secret Wars... down to Franklin Richards being the one who re-creates him.

* BadassNormal: Out of their armor, both Stark and Rhodes can handle almost any threat until they can suit up.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Some villains have gone back and forth between being a foe of IM or being a foe of someone else; Scarecrow, a former circus acrobat originally appeared as a foe of IM back in the 60s, but later tussled a bit with Captain America and the Falcon, and later became a major enemy of ComicBook/GhostRider. The Mandarin branched out a bit in the 60s, attempting to control the Hulk, fighting Captain America, the Inhumans, and was the villain of the first ''Avengers'' annual (with various other ''Avengers''-related villains -- ComicBook/TheEnchantress and Skurge, the original Power Man, the Swordsman, and Living Laser -- working for him). Speaking of Living Laser, he eventually became a regular villain for IM, despite his original appearances in ''The Avengers'' as having been a StalkerWithACrush on The Wasp. Grey Gargoyle had three notable encounters with Shellhead -- once in the late '60s, again in the mid '80s, and the ''Fear Itself'' storyline in the New '10s -- despite being primarily a Thor villain.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Like the rest of the Marvel superheroes, Tony turned evil thanks to the inversion spell during the ''AXIS'' event. Later subverted when Tony took measures to keep the reversal of the spell from affecting him, resulting in his FallenHero status in ''Superior Iron Man'' and ''ComicBook/TimeRunsOut''.

* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: On -various- endless occasions, Stark has had to don his older armor despite the fact that all of Tony's old armors were destroyed ''several times''. (Apparently Tony likes to rebuild them.)

* CustomBuiltHost: The Mandarin forces Tony Stark and Ezekiel Stane to build giant many tentacled bodies for the Alien intelligences that exist in the Mandarin's Rings.
** In a different Iron Man story, cultists use Extremis to genetically modify some women to be strong enough to contain the child of an EldritchAbomination. [[spoiler:It works.]]

* DarkActionGirl:
** Madame Masque, one of his villains, is one.
** As is Justin Hammer's granddaughter (and the Mandarin's daughter) Sasha, when she's piloting Detroit Steel - or, indeed, when she is in an expensive dress, or her underwear.

* EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture: The Superior Iron Man armor.

** [[spoiler:''Tony Stark: Iron Man'' seems to be setting his brother Arno up for this role; whilst as brilliant as Tony is, he's also a moral absolutist, who will give out his science-based assistance when asked, but in ways that are often BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor. In his first feature in [=TS:IM=] #5, Arno allows the workers on a ranch of bio-engineered "ethical cattle" to be stampeded to death when he figures out they've created a HiveMind that can feel the pain when its individual members are killed, coldly refuses to help a band of Saharan farmers who ignored his instruction to not plant more of the desert-growing grain he gave them, and mocks the man he transplanted a replacement arm onto after it turns out that something of the arm's original owner's consciousness still survives in the arm.]]

** In Tony's defence, this is mainly because most of his new suits are created to immediately stop whatever threat destroyed or damaged their predecessor, focusing more on overcoming whatever weakness led to the destruction of the previous armour before his foe can cause more damage and only learning about other issues later.

* FreakyFridayFlip: In ''Iron Man'' (vol. 1) #255, a bizarre mutant with the ability to manipulate radio signals (who settles on going by "Freak Quincy") inadvertently links up with the Russian microwave satellite that was empowering Devastator during a training exercise against the Crimson Dynamo, somehow switching the minds of Tony Stark (who was trying to stop Quincy as Iron Man) and Valentin Shalatov (the Dynamo). Shalatov's lack of familiarity with the Iron Man armor resulted in a rather... unfortunate accident for Quincy, but Stark and Shalatov were able to find a way to reverse the process. The incident, although a "filler" issue as the comic was transitioning to the team of John Byrne and John Romita, Jr. at the time, was referenced much later on, when [[EnemyMine Shalatov needed Stark's help to stop the rampaging Titanium Man]] (the original, Boris Bullski).

** Although ''some people'' might argue this is a more recent "development" for the character.

* HeartInTheWrongPlace: Averted by Iron Man, whose heart-sustaining arc reactor is located in the center of his chest.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Even [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks early on]], he refused to trust his closest friends with his secrets until his back was against the wall, not because [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies they would be endangered]], but because he believed no one else was equal to the responsibility.
** ''Superior Iron Man'' shoves him firmly into JerkAss territory because of the morality inversion of the AXIS event.

** Averted in ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' v2 #113, where Tony becomes the Sorcerer Supreme instead of Doctor Strange... and [[{{Magitek}} combines the Sorcerer Supreme magic with his Iron Man technology.]]

** Also, in a BadFuture brought about by the horrible attempts to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong in the ''[[ComicBook/AgeOfUltron Age of Ultron]]'' storyline, Tony Stark is an enfeebled dictator of the USA, [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport sustained by the life-support his suit grants]] and commander of the Defenders against the demonic forces of Morgan le Fay, in a literal war between magic and science over New York City. Unfortunately, Tony, and therefore science, is fighting a losing battle, although it is implied were [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] still around, the odds would have been evened. Hell, it's Pym's death [[ForWantOfANail that started events]] leading to the war in the first place. [[note]]: Wolverine and Sue Richards went back in time to stop Pym from creating Ultron and prevent Ultron's takeover of the world. Wolverine's "solution" to the problem was to kill him before he gets the chance, leading to the aforementioned Defenders vs Morgan le Fay timeline.[[/note]]

** ''Extremis''. This Warren Ellis story changed Iron Man for good, it seems - new repercussions keep popping up and there is no sign of it stopping.
*** And then it stopped when Tony completely rebooted his biology.

* RichesToRags: Happens to Tony more than once.

** Averted here in that if you attack him with magic, don't expect much considering Stark is usually able to use his scientific knowledge and technology to beat any spell you throw at him.

* SecretIdentity: Averted. Tony ''used'' to keep it a secret but it came out eventually. See ClarkKenting above.

* ThouShaltNotKill: Averted on occasion in the comics... just ask Mallen. Oh, right, you can't. He has no head, but considering Mallen had sworn to kill the President, nothing less than death would stop him and ''his body was trying to get up after his head had been blasted off'', you might argue Tony was spit out of options.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: By ''Tony Stark: Iron Man'', Tony has decided his morals command him to be on the "AI are people too" side of the debate. He hires the Ultron-designed FemBot Jocasta specifically to be the Stark Unlimited AI interface, to avoid exploiting or denigrating artificial intelligences. At her instruction, he removed his former suit-controlling AI Friday and transplanted her into a gynoid body. Likewise, in issue #6, she calls him out on planning to simply blow away the robot data-thieves that are attacking his company just because it's expedient and they're legally okay to kill. Ironically, Jocasta is revealed to have herself a case of BecomeARealBoy, secretly using Tony's new ultra-immersive virtual reality "[=eScape=]" to fantasize about being human, after earlier abortive attempts at using an image inducer to pretend to be a human amongst the other employees went embarrassingly wrong. Then she makes an attempt to transfer her consciousness from her gynoid body into a bio-engineered [[ArtificialHuman biodroid]] body.

* WolverinePublicity: He starred in four different shows on four different networks (''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'' on Nicktoons, ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'' on Cartoon Network, ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' and ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' on Disney XD, and ''Anime/MarvelAnimeIronMan'' on G4). That's without even getting into [[Film/IronMan the]] [[Film/TheAvengers2012 movies]], which made him a famous character in an unprecedented level (probably the first film alone being responsible for all this publicity). Three other characters are on ''Armored Adventures'', ''Superhero Squad'', and ''The Avengers'': Nick Fury, who's been getting pimped out by Marvel himself lately, MODOK, who is also a new character in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', and the Hulk. He's in his solo book, Hickman's Avengers book, Hickman's New Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

* AccidentalHero: A French sculptor becomes a hit for the statues he apparently carves of terrified women. Fellow business tycoon Rae [=LaCoste=] gets Tony one as a gift. Tony accidentally chips it while finding somewhere to put it, and worries about getting hell from Rae. The statue suddenly turns into a living woman, who reveals to Tony that the French sculptor is actually the supervillain Grey Gargoyle. The Gargoyle [[{{Squick}} was turning real women into statues and selling them as sculptures]]. The Gargoyle's power usually wears off after an hour, but he coated the women with a special chemical polish that kept them from turning back to flesh and blood. When Tony chipped the "statue", he unwittingly disrupted the polish and freed the woman from the Gargoyle's power. Needless to say, Tony went after the Gargoyle as Iron Man.

* CommonKnowledge:
** Tony Stark's best friend is [[ComicBook/WarMachine James Rhodes]], and his love interest is [[ComicBook/{{Rescue}} Pepper Potts]], right? Sort of true. When Iron Man first got a supporting cast (Tales of Suspense #45), Pepper ''was'' his love interest, whilst his best friend was his chauffeur/bodyguard, Happy Hogan. There was a love triangle between the three for years before Happy and Pepper eventually got married and moved away. By the time Rhodey entered the scene, Tony had dated many other women, notably Madame Masque and Bethany Cabe. Whilst Happy died during ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'', and it is certainly true that Rhodey and Pepper are Tony's two most prominent supporting characters, Pepper still hasn't been a romantic interest of Tony's for years - in fact, a plot point in Kieron Gillen's run hinged on the fact that she got engaged. Like many examples here, this perception is largely due to [[Film/IronMan the movies]], which had Pepper as the primary love interest and Rhodey as Tony's best friend from the beginning, with Happy [[DemotedToExtra taking on a much smaller role]].
** Iron Man is also known as ''the'' celebrity superhero, one without a SecretIdentity and who is basically a rockstar who both fights bad guys and is renowned by the public. While that's true ''now'', for most of his history, it wasn't. Iron Man's identity was as closely guarded as Spider-Man's. Notably, he founded the Avengers without ''any'' of the other heroes knowing who he is (Hank Pym wasn't pleased to learn he wasn't the lone super-genius of the founders, either). Many of his allies didn't know he was Iron Man, and Stark constructed a backstory that Iron Man was his personal bodyguard with many stories hinging on no one knowing that Tony Stark is Iron Man. Rhodes (aka ComicBook/WarMachine) didn't know he was Iron Man until much later on. As for when he became public, that wasn't until 2002, where he revealed himself as Iron Man for the purpose of saving a dog when one was in danger of an incoming car, and he couldn't avoid it. Even then, he was actually able to back out and be secretive a while longer. It wasn't until the ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'' arc in 2006 where Tony Stark completely announced to the world he was Iron Man as a gesture of support for the Pro-Reg side he was leading, and has remained that way ever since. As such, the idea of him being public is NewerThanTheyThink. This perception is fueled by the MCU's portrayal, with the iconic "I am Iron Man" scene setting the stage for the rest of the franchise. It should be noted that they [[WhatCouldHaveBeen intended him to have a secret identity there as well]], but as the movie was largely improvised, Creator/RobertDowneyJr came up with that on the spot, they went with it, and the rest is history.

* DeadpanSnarker: Mostly subverted; fans of [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse the movies]] may [[CommonKnowledge assume]] Tony fits this trope, but it's really not a major quality in his comic book depictions. Although some writers have been borrowing more from Creator/RobertDowneyJr's portrayal and incorporating this trope more into Tony's characterization as time goes on.

* HeroesWantRedheads:
** Pepper Potts, Black Widow, Bethany Cabe. If it's a significant Iron Man love interest, chances are it's a redhead. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Though Pepper was a brunette originally.]]
** There's also the [[WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries animated series]] that has [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Julia Carpenter]] as a love interest and yes, she's a redhead.
** Averted: The woman who came closest to him, ever, to the point of almost getting married to him, was Rumiko Fujikawa--who was, as her name indicates, Japanese, and so raven-haired.

** Tony Stark has had to face off occasionally against advanced versions of his armor using older models. Some examples include when he battled [[AIIsACrapshoot his own armor]] gone {{Yandere}} in the ''Sentient Armor'' arc, and later facing off against ComicBook/NormanOsborn, who was using his ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'' "Iron Patriot" suit, with a suit (literally) [[MemeticMutation made in a cave, with a box of scraps]].

* BlessedWithSuck: Tony's incarnation in the [[{{Retcon}} in-universe cartoon]] for ComicBook/UltimateMarvel [[UltimateUniverse universe]] may potentially be even smarter than mainstream Tony, and has a [[HealingFactor regenerative ability]], because he has "undifferentiated neural tissue" (in laymen's terms, on the cellular level, his body is a brain) scattered throughout his body as a result of prenatal exposure to a retrovirus his mother was working on. The downside of this? Even when wearing his protective biosuit and plastered on booze, Ultimate!Tony lives in incessant, perpetual, inescapable pain. As in "being skinned alive" levels of pain. When his blood alcohol level drops, or if he takes the suit off, ''it gets even worse''. He's also got a brain tumour that's due to kill him soon (from unrelated causes); one almost gets the impression he's relieved at the prospect.

* BrilliantButLazy: He sure built that arc reactor pretty quickly once he needed it and was said by Obadiah Stane to be more of an "idea man". He's more hard-working but quite hedonistic. Parodied in a scene in the Avengers, where Tony finds the idea of turning to look around a room exhausting.

* GadgeteerGenius: Tony Stark, obviously, but also Ivan Vanko and especially in the case of the latter, as he's working from a dingy little workshop in St. Petersburg, with resources nowhere the quality or quantity of Stark's. And he still manages to make a weapon that can give Iron Man a fight.

* ImpossiblyCoolWealth: Especially the Ultimate version of Tony, who very much is a 'you can't take it with you' capitalist. Examples: an island village/research facility floating high up in the air; an airplane which has a luxury suite inside it, suspended in liquid teflon so you never notice any turbulence; an Iron Man 'suit' the size of two football stadiums.

* SexyStewardess: Tony Stark's private flight attendants are so sexy, they double as go-go dancers.

* ShoutOut: The British Iron Man tech in ''Ultimate Armor Wars'' is suspiciously reminiscent of a certain ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' protagonist.

* LightIsNotGood: The Superior Iron Man suit looks like an Creator/{{Apple}} product, given its white, silvery design. But the man inside is a greedy, extremistic, self-righteous douchebag.

->''I went from being a man trapped in an iron suit to being a man freed by it.''

As of the dawn of the Heroic Age, Stark was rebuilding his financial empire from scratch. His vehicle to make this happen? Using technology provided by [[ComicBook/IronFist Danny Rand]] combined with his own repulsor technology to form one of the most astounding sources of clean energy ever seen. He was offering for investors to get in on the ground floor or be flattened by him in five to ten years. And the best part? His new company wouldn't be financed by manufacture of a ''single weapon''. After ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'', Creator/BrianMichaelBendis confirmed that Iron Man would join the ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy in the Comicbook/MarvelNOW series in early 2013.

* ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' (crossover with ''Franchise/TheAvengers'')

** In the third annual issue back in the '70s, anyone who held the wand of the (then-deceased) villain Molecule Man was eventually possessed by his essence. He is defeated when Comicbook/ManThing grabs the wand, and since he doesn't have a mind to possess, Molecule Man's essence disappears completely.

** When the Mandarin found himself opposing the Makluan dragons he'd helped unleash, he was forced to team up with Iron Man (and [[Comicbook/WarMachine Iron Man]]) to stop them.

* EvilCostumeSwitch: After ''Comicbook/{{AXIS}}'', Tony begins sporting a suit of sleek, silver armor as the Superior Iron Man.

** Played classically straight during ''Comicbook/{{AXIS}}'' when his alignment was inverted by a spell cast by Doctor Doom and the Scarlet Witch. However, he was the only formerly heroic villain who designed the means to ''stay'' a villain in case the spell was reversed - which was exactly what happened. This is how he became the Superior Iron Man. This has since been undone following the post-''Comicbook/SecretWars2015'' multiversal reboot.

** Although Tony didn't design it, his company built Red Ronin, the piloted giant robot built to fight Franchise/{{Godzilla}} in ''Comicbook/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1977''. Marvel no longer has the license for Godzilla, but Red Ronin still shows up from time to time.

** Stark is smarter than the average FlatEarthAtheist, acknowledging that Comicbook/DoctorStrange and other magical characters are doing ''something'' beyond his understanding, but he finds magic and its defiance of physical laws, even those of a superhero universe, profoundly irritating and uncomfortable. This has had some negative consequences, as [[spoiler:his taking a sample of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]'s DNA in an attempt to figure out how his "godly" powers work resulted years later in ''Civil War'''s Thor clone, who ended up killing one of Tony's friends on the other side of the war.]]

** Also, in a BadFuture brought about by the horrible attempts to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong in the ''[[Comicbook/AgeOfUltron Age of Ultron]]'' storyline, Tony Stark is an enfeebled dictator of the USA, [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport sustained by the life-support his suit grants]] and commander of the Defenders against the demonic forces of Morgan le Fay, in a literal war between magic and science over New York City. Unfortunately, Tony, and therefore science, is fighting a losing battle, although it is implied were [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] still around, the odds would have been evened. Hell, it's Pym's death [[ForWantOfANail that started events]] leading to the war in the first place. [[note]]: Wolverine and Sue Richards went back in time to stop Pym from creating Ultron and prevent Ultron's takeover of the world. Wolverine's "solution" to the problem was to kill him before he gets the chance, leading to the aforementioned Defenders vs Morgan le Fay timeline.[[/note]]

** When the Watcher paid him a visit and showed him [[WhatIf two alternate outcomes to]] ''Comicbook/{{Civil War|2006}}''.

* OffTheWagon: Tony is a recovering alcoholic and is frequently tempted to go back to the bottle during emotionally charged storylines. He hasn't given in to that temptation for ''decades'' (real-time) until ''Comicbook/FearItself.''

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: In the first issue of the 2015 volume of ''Invincible Iron Man'' Tony dates an East Asian scientist who has invented a cure for the X-Gene. No, Tony is ''not'' putting the moves on [[Comicbook/AstonishingXMen Kavita Rao]]. Meet Amara Pereira, everyone!

* VariantPowerCopying: Tony's suits usually have this ability, such as being able to copy Comicbook/CaptainAmerica's fighting moves by replicating them and then performing the motions, or copying Comicbook/{{Magneto}}'s abilities using orbital satellites that can absorb electro-magnetic energy, or copying Comicbook/{{Venom}}'s symbiote by using nanomachines that approximate the symbiote's biological abilities.

** Tony Stark's best friend is [[ComicBook/WarMachine James Rhodes]], and his love interest is [[ComicBook/{{Rescue}} Pepper Potts]], right? Sort of true. When Iron Man first got a supporting cast (Tales of Suspense #45), Pepper ''was'' his love interest, whilst his best friend was his chauffeur/bodyguard, Happy Hogan. There was a love triangle between the three for years before Happy and Pepper eventually got married and moved away. By the time Rhodey entered the scene, Tony had dated many other women, notably Madame Masque and Bethany Cabe. Whilst Happy died during ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', and it is certainly true that Rhodey and Pepper are Tony's two most prominent supporting characters, Pepper still hasn't been a romantic interest of Tony's for years - in fact, a plot point in Kieron Gillen's run hinged on the fact that she got engaged. Like many examples here, this perception is largely due to [[Film/IronMan the movies]], which had Pepper as the primary love interest and Rhodey as Tony's best friend from the beginning, with Happy [[DemotedToExtra taking on a much smaller role]].
** Iron Man is also known as ''the'' celebrity superhero, one without a SecretIdentity and who is basically a rockstar who both fights bad guys and is renowned by the public. While that's true ''now'', for most of his history, it wasn't. Iron Man's identity was as closely guarded as Spider-Man's. Notably, he founded the Avengers without ''any'' of the other heroes knowing who he is (Hank Pym wasn't pleased to learn he wasn't the lone super-genius of the founders, either). Many of his allies didn't know he was Iron Man, and Stark constructed a backstory that Iron Man was his personal bodyguard with many stories hinging on no one knowing that Tony Stark is Iron Man. Rhodes (aka ComicBook/WarMachine) didn't know he was Iron Man until much later on. As for when he became public, that wasn't until 2002, where he revealed himself as Iron Man for the purpose of saving a dog when one was in danger of an incoming car, and he couldn't avoid it. Even then, he was actually able to back out and be secretive a while longer. It wasn't until the ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' arc in 2006 where Tony Stark completely announced to the world he was Iron Man as a gesture of support for the Pro-Reg side he was leading, and has remained that way ever since. As such, the idea of him being public is NewerThanTheyThink. This perception is fueled by the MCU's portrayal, with the iconic "I am Iron Man" scene setting the stage for the rest of the franchise. It should be noted that they [[WhatCouldHaveBeen intended him to have a secret identity there as well]], but as the movie was largely improvised, Creator/RobertDowneyJr came up with that on the spot, they went with it, and the rest is history.

** Whether or not he did this during Marvel's ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' is a touchy topic that has led to natter on this page.

** Tony Stark after the events of ''ComicBook/CivilWar''.

** When the Watcher paid him a visit and showed him [[WhatIf two alternate outcomes to]] ''Comicbook/CivilWar''.

Following the event ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'', Tony put away his suit in order for a new hero to take over--15-year old Riri Williams, an African-American girl who built her own suit of armor in her dorm room at MIT. Another title, ''Infamous Iron Man'', sees Doctor Doom also putting on the Iron Man armor. Tony would later return to being Iron Man and reestablishing another company, ''again''. In January of 2020, Marvel released the title ComicBook/IronMan2020Event, which stars Tony’s brother Arno Stark.

* SuperIntelligence: He is ranked among the smartest persons on earth in the MarvelUniverse with Super-Genius class intelligence.

Iron Man, during the controversial ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' story-line, chose to champion the Superhero Registration Act, which put him at odds with his long time friend and ally Captain America/Steve Rogers and resulted in a war between Stark's pro-registration heroes and Cap's anti-registration heroes. Although Stark championed Registration with good intentions (he insists it was to protect his fellow heroes from possibly being eradicated by the government following a superhero/villain related tragedy that resulted in countless civilian deaths), he did a number of questionable and downright unpleasant things to get it in place (see below). Stark's support of Superhero Registration would ultimately come back to bite him in the ass in ''Secret Invasion''.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Some villains have gone back and forth between being a foe of IM or being a foe of someone else; Scarecrow, a former circus acrobat originally appeared as a foe of IM back in the 60s, but later tussled a bit with Captain America and the Falcon, and later became a major enemy of ComicBook/GhostRider. The Mandarin branched out a bit in the 60s, attempting to control the Hulk, fighting Captain America, the Inhumans, and was the villain of the first ''Avengers'' annual (with various other ''Avengers''-related villains- ComicBook/TheEnchantress and Skurge, the original Power Man, the Swordsman, and Living Laser- working for him). Speaking of Living Laser, he eventually became a regular villain for IM, despite his original appearances in ''The Avengers'' as having been a StalkerWithACrush on The Wasp. Grey Gargoyle had three notable encounters with Shellhead- once in the late '60s, again in the mid '80s, and the ''Fear Itself'' storyline in the New '10s- despite being primarily a Thor villain.

In non-comic media, a movie based on the character, ''Film/IronMan'', was released in May 2008 with Creator/RobertDowneyJr in the title role. It did well at the box office, and as of June 2008 had a 94% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, making it the best-received movie of the year, tying with ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. This movie kicked off the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, being followed by two sequels and other appearances therein until ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' - although, being in-universe the first high-profile superhero of the modern era[[note]]Captain America operated in the 40s and would not be thawed until 2011, and Captain Marvel was operating undercover in the 90s[[/note]], his impact is felt throughout the MCU, even in films where he does not directly appear. Prior to the movies, Iron Man had animated TV series in 1966 and 1994; for information on those, see [[WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes here]] and [[WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries here]]. In the wake of the movies, ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'' is a cartoon that takes another approach to the mythos by having Tony and his friends be teenagers. Additionally, there is a 2011 [[Anime/IronMan anime]] by Creator/{{Madhouse}}, well-received by fans in concept partly on the basis that 1) the Japanese know Mecha, and Iron Man has a [[PoweredArmor Mecha Suit]], and 2) it wouldn't be that far off the mark for the character to have adventures in Japan, since he's a businessman with corporate branches and rivals all over the world.[[note]]In fact, his arch enemy is called The Mandarin and is a descendant of Genghis Khan. Not Japanese, but at least geographically close.[[/note]] The series led to ''Anime/IronManRiseOfTechnovore'', an Anime film made to promote the release of ''Film/IronMan3''. The character has also appeared in both ''WesternAnimation/UltimateAvengers'' films as well as the prequel, ''WesternAnimation/TheInvincibleIronMan''. Iron Man featured in yet another animated feature in 2013, this time a team-up with the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] called ''WesternAnimation/IronManAndHulkHeroesUnited''.

* WolverinePublicity: He starred in four different shows on four different networks (''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'' on Nicktoons, ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'' on Cartoon Network, ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' and ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' on Disney XD, and ''Anime/IronMan'' on G4). That's without even getting into [[Film/IronMan the]] [[Film/TheAvengers2012 movies]], which made him a famous character in an unprecedented level (probably the first film alone being responsible for all this publicity). Three other characters are on ''Armored Adventures'', ''Superhero Squad'', and ''The Avengers'': Nick Fury, who's been getting pimped out by Marvel himself lately, MODOK, who is also a new character in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', and the Hulk. He's in his solo book, Hickman's Avengers book, Hickman's New Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Strongly [[AvertedTrope averted]]. Stark plays hard, but he is quite publicly a sharp deal maker and a genius engineer with a workaholic streak. He turned a significant fortune into a monumental one, and has lost it and recovered it at least twice. He's also widely considered to be brilliant by both civilians and heroes and is consulted on scientific, engineering and medical matters.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: By ''Tony Stark: Iron Man'', Tony has decided his morals command him to be on the "AI are people too" side of the debate. He hires the Ultron-designed FemBot Jocasta specifically to be the Stark Unlimited AI interface, to avoid exploiting or denigrating artificial intelligences. At her instruction, he removed his former suit-controlling AI Friday and transplanted her into a gynoid body. Likewise, in issue #6, she calls him out on planning to simply blow away the robot data-thieves that are attacking his company just because it's expedient and they're legally okay to kill. Ironically, Jocasta is revealed to have herself a case of PinocchioSyndrome, secretly using Tony's new ultra-immersive virtual reality "[=eScape=]" to fantasize about being human, after earlier abortive attempts at using an image inducer to pretend to be a human amongst the other employees went embarrassingly wrong. Then she makes an attempt to transfer her consciousness from her gynoid body into a bio-engineered [[ArtificialHuman biodroid]] body.

* YourUniverseOrMine: When placed opposite of any female character in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''. This ranges from Crimson Viper to Tron Bonne to [[ChineseVampire Hsien-Ko]] to [[HornyDevil Morrigan]]. The only exception? Amaterasu, who is a ''dog.''

In non-comic media, a movie based on the character, ''Film/IronMan'', was released in May 2008 with Creator/RobertDowneyJr in the title role. It did well at the box office, and as of June 2008 had a 94% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, making it the best-received movie of the year, tying with ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. This movie kicked off the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, being followed by two sequels and other appearances therein until ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' - although, being in-universe the first high-profile superhero of the modern era[[note]]Captain America operated in the 40s and would not be thawed until 2011, and Captain Marvel was operating undercover in the 90s[[/note]], his impact is felt throughout the MCU, even in films where he does not directly appear. Prior to the movies, Iron Man had animated TV series in 1966 and 1994; for information on those, see [[WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes here]] and [[WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries here]]. In the wake of the movies, ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'' is a cartoon that takes another approach to the mythos by having Tony and his friends be teenagers. Additionally, there is a 2011 [[Anime/IronMan anime]] by Creator/{{Madhouse}}, well-received by fans in concept partly on the basis that 1) the Japanese know Mecha, and Iron Man has a [[PoweredArmor Mecha Suit]], and 2) it wouldn't be that far off the mark for the character to have adventures in Japan, since he's a businessman with corporate branches and rivals all over the world.[[note]]In fact, his arch enemy is called The Mandarin and is a descendant of Genghis Khan. Not Japanese, but at least geographically close.[[/note]] The series led to ''Anime/IronManRiseOfTechnovore'', an Anime film made to promote the release of ''Film/IronMan3''. The character has also appeared in both ''WesternAnimation/UltimateAvengers'' films as well as the prequel, ''WesternAnimation/TheInvincibleIronMan''. Iron Man featured in yet another animated feature in 2013, this time a team-up with Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk called ''WesternAnimation/IronManAndHulkHeroesUnited''.

* WhatTheHellHero: Not in those exact words so much, but Hawkeye's reaction to Iron Man's actions in the ComicBook/ArmorWars. Also, the [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] when Tony tried to pick a fight with him (see WrongGenreSavvy below).

* WrongGenreSavvy: In the ''Crash and Burn'' storyline[[note]]the 1968 Iron Man comic-line, aka "Iron Man Volume #1", issues #301--#306[[/note]], Tony learns that one of the plants he'd acquired in buying out Stane International had been producing gamma bombs for the Pentagon, and the press had become aware, meaning that the [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] was going to find out. Expecting the Hulk to come in to smash the place, Tony orders the plant evacuated, and waits for the Hulk to show up wearing Hulkbuster armor. When the big green guy does show, Tony throws the first punch. Hulk (who has Banners' intellect during this period) [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out on this]], stating that he only came by to discuss a timeframe for shutting the plant down, not to smash anything. Having reached an accord, Tony decides there's no time like the present, so they end up leveling the plant themselves.

** It's taken UpToEleven by the ''VideoGame/AvengersAcademy'' game, in which Tony does things like refer to Thor as sexy, call T'Challa handsome to his face, tease Loki for hitting on him and compliment his hair, openly check out Captain Britain's biceps, and seems to have no problem with the concept of himself and Steve as a couple, all while still flirting incessantly with female characters like Pepper, Nadia Pym, and Natasha Romanoff.

Tony Stark was a MillionairePlayboy and industrialist until a battlefield explosion left him with a damaged heart that threatened to kill him. Captured by the enemy forces, he is forced into manufacturing weaponry to aid them. Instead, he secretly designed and built a suit of armor ''[[MemeticMutation in a cave, with a box of scraps]]'' to keep his heart beating and to escape from his captors, and in the process became the superhero known as Iron Man. The character first appeared in ''Tales of Suspense'' #39 (March 1963), created by writers Creator/StanLee, and Larry Lieber, along with artists Don Heck and Creator/JackKirby. He has served as the protagonist of several series since that time. Notable classic storylines include "Demon in a Bottle", which deals with his alcoholism, and "ComicBook/ArmorWars", where he goes on a vendetta after his technology is stolen and reproduced.

** Along those lines when Tony Stark is introduced he's firmly a part of the military industrial complex as a way of attempting to make a sympathetic character that young people at the time wouldn't relate to. After the Vietnam war writers would steer him away from the direction of weapons manufacturer and make it a period of his life that he regrets.

** For a time the entire suit was Tony's life support, meaning he was forced to be Iron Man 24/7.

* YellowPeril: His archnemesis is the Mandarin, who by his name you can tell he is an Asian themed villain. There's also his original enemy Wong Chu (who is colored yellow in Tales of Suspense #39), as well as several frankly embarrassing Asian opponents - especially Samurai Steel. The Mandarin, at least, is a reasonably respectfully portrayed one, who gets a fleshed-out, moderately sympathetic backstory and believable motives for his villainy.

In non-comic media, a movie based on the character, ''Film/IronMan'', was released in May 2008 with Creator/RobertDowneyJr in the title role. It did well at the box office, and as of June 2008 had a 94% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, making it the best-received movie of the year, tying with ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. This movie kicked off the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, being followed by two sequels and other appearances therein until ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' - although, being in-universe the first high-profile superhero of the modern era[[note]]Captain America operated in the 40s and would not be thawed until 2011, and Captain Marvel was operating undercover in the 90s[[/note]], his impact is felt throughout the MCU, even in films where he does not directly appear. Prior to the movies, Iron Man had animated TV series in 1966 and 1994; for information on those, see [[WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes here]] and [[WesternAnimation/IronMan here]]. In the wake of the movies, ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'' is a cartoon that takes another approach to the mythos by having Tony and his friends be teenagers. Additionally, there is a 2011 [[Anime/IronMan anime]] by Creator/{{Madhouse}}, well-received by fans in concept partly on the basis that 1) the Japanese know Mecha, and Iron Man has a [[PoweredArmor Mecha Suit]], and 2) it wouldn't be that far off the mark for the character to have adventures in Japan, since he's a businessman with corporate branches and rivals all over the world.[[note]]In fact, his arch enemy is called The Mandarin and is a descendant of Genghis Khan. Not Japanese, but at least geographically close.[[/note]] The series led to ''Anime/IronManRiseOfTechnovore'', an Anime film made to promote the release of ''Film/IronMan3''. The character has also appeared in both ''WesternAnimation/UltimateAvengers'' films as well as the prequel, ''WesternAnimation/TheInvincibleIronMan''. Iron Man featured in yet another animated feature in 2013, this time a team-up with Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk called ''WesternAnimation/IronManAndHulkHeroesUnited''.

** There's also the [[WesternAnimation/IronMan animated series]] that has [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Julia Carpenter]] as a love interest and yes, she's a redhead.