Castle Doom
Castle Doom is a fictional location appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Doctor Doom makes his home in Castle Doom, a high 110 room castle built in the 16th century by the Latverian nobleman Count Sabbat. It first appeared in Fantastic Four #5.
Description
The castle overlooks the Latverian capital of Doomstadt (formerly Hassenstadt).[1] Doom has lived in the castle since usurping the throne from King Vladimir, save for the brief periods when the throne was usurped from him by Prince Zorba or Doom's own "heir," Kristoff. Doom destroyed the castle to quell a rebellion led by the exiled Prince Rudolpho. The rebuilt castle's general out structure remained the same, but current technology was integrated into the castle's structure in accordance to Doom's specifications.
The exterior walls of Castle Doom are constructed of reinforced stone, and the tower roofs are also reinforced. Moments after an attack is detected, force screens spring up around the exterior walls. Interior walls are also made of stone and reinforced, and all interior doors are made of wood reinforced with steel. Doom's above-ground laboratories are supplemented with energy screens that can reflect attacks back onto its point of origin.
Guards are posted along the exterior walls at all times. Standard shifts include six Doom-Knights on the higher towers, six Warrior Robots patrolling the lower parapets, four human Latverian Guardsmen watching the front gate and main entrance, and a minimum of three Guardian Robots patrolling the woods around the base of Castle Doom. Built into the castle are a number of deterrents, including stunners, shock fields on the walls, doors and windows, and gas emitters that can fill a room with knock-out gas or an exceedingly lethal poison gas. If Doom feels these measures are not extreme enough, he will employ excessive measures such as his Rainbow Missiles or Vortex Machines. The weakest defensive point of Castle Doom are the docks that open out to the Klyne River—this entrance is only staffed by two human Latverian Guardsmen and four to six Warrior Robots.
Visual, audible and motion sensors honeycomb Castle Doom and Latveria. Only the fear in Doom's underlings slows his knowledge of all that goes on in his domain, as his minions are understandably hesitant to bring him bad news. Doom has built in triple-redundant protective devices around his surveillance and security systems, requiring an amazing degree of skill to neutralize the alarms or surveillance devices.
Castle Doom contains one basement and five sub-basements. The basement contains Doom's wine cellars and storage space for miscellaneous housewares. The first sub-basement is contorted with small winding passageways that lead only into various trapped rooms. Separated from these corridors is Doom's hangar, which can open to the castle's courtyard or via a ramp leading out behind the castle. The second sub-basement holds Doom's primary research & development laboratories. This floor also contained numerous torture chambers, which Doom equipped with various power-inhibiting devices when he converted them into superhuman detention cells. The Memory Transference Machine, which was used to turn Kristoff into a mental clone of Doom, is also located on this level. Prison cells nested in a tangled maze of corridors make up 30% of the third sub-basement. The remainder of this level is used for Doom's major projects, such as his Cosmic Energizer and his currently inert series of Doomsman androids. The highly advanced and extremely efficient nuclear reactor which powers Castle Doom is located in the fourth sub-basement, as are more secret laboratories and workshops. The fifth sub-basement is equal parts worked stone and natural caverns. An offshoot of the Klyne River runs through this level, which feeds three backup hydroelectric generators. Doom's magical summoning room is also located on this level, as is a supplemental robot construction facility.
The Ground Floor contains the grand entry hall and a lavish reception hall with a raised throne. Behind a large tapestry in the back of the throne room is a concealed door leading to a robing room and study. To the left of the entry hall is Doom's art gallery, antiquated kitchens and the chef's quarters, and a staff lounge and staff dining area. To the right of the robing room are hallways leading to a robot repair/recharge area, a fully stocked armory, and guard bunks.
The 2nd floor contains the grand ballroom, the official throne room (a high-ceilinged chamber where Doom holds his more diplomatic meetings), a formal dining room, servant's quarters, expensively furnished guest rooms, a music room (housing Doom's Hyper-Sound Piano), the castle museum (featuring the Latverian crown jewels and various mementos of Doom's conquests), the archives/royal historian's office, the communications center, robot construction workshops, offices for various staff, and a balcony from which to address the public. Guard bunks and guard posts are scattered throughout this floor.
The 3rd floor holds several secondary R&D laboratories, scientist's quarters, a medical infirmary, the hangar, a surveillance center (focused on the national/domestic level), and robot construction workshops. Guard posts, mostly manned by robotic guards, are scattered throughout this level.
The 4th Floor holds several tertiary R&D laboratories, including a holography & laser lab, a chemical lab, and a genetics lab. A surveillance center, focused on international events, is also located on this level.
Floors 5-10 are located in Castle Doom's massive central tower. The 5th floor houses a game room, and the 6th floor holds Doom's living quarters. The 7th floor holds Doom's private scientific laboratories, and Doom's private magical laboratory & workshop are located on the 8th floor. The 9th and 10th floor holds Doom's private 2-story library.
Other media
Castle Doom is featured in both Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. In the former, it serves as the headquarters of the Masters of Evil, who are led by Doctor Doom in his plan to steal Odin's powers. In the latter, the castle is invaded at the beginning of the game by Nick Fury, Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine and several other superheroes, after Fury learns of Latveria's recently elected prime minister Lucia Von Bardas supplying weapons to the Tinkerer, who in turn sells them to other supervillains; the invasion is a secret mission organized by Fury without the government's accord, similarly to the Secret Wars story arc. The mission ends with the descruction of Castle Doom and the apparent death of Lucia.
Castle Doom also appears in Lego Marvel Superheroes. It is the initial headquarters of Doctor Doom, who is holding the Silver Surfer prisoner here after destroying his board, which shattered into multiple "Cosmic Bricks" (which Doom seeks to collect to build his "Doom Ray of Doom", with the help of Loki and numerous other supervillains). After Iron Man tracks down the Surfer's cosmic signature to Latveria, Nick Fury and the Fantastic Four assault Castle Doom, tearing through Doom's defenses and Doombots, as well as defeating the Green Goblin. The heroes then rescue the Surfer and confront Doom, who is wielding a prototype Doom Ray. However, after he is unable to make it work, Loki instead knocks the heroes unconscious with his sorcery, tricking Doom into believing that the Doom Ray worked, and the two villains escape.
References
- Bray, Adam; Cink, Lorraine; Scott, Melanie; Wiacek, Stephen (2017). Ultimate Marvel. DK Publishing. p. 301. ISBN 9781465495372.