- "It's working. We're safe, America is secure. You want my property, you can't have it. But I did you a big favor: I have successfully privatized world peace."
- ―Tony Stark about his Iron Man suit to Senator Stern.[src]
Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark is an American billionaire businessman, industrialist, engineer, philanthropist and playboy, who served as the CEO of Stark Industries, succeeding his father Howard Stark several years after his death. Tony Stark also publicly acts as the superhero Iron Man, a name given to him by the media by virute of the battle suit he wears to fight against injustice.
While being held in captivity by a terrorist group called the Ten Rings in Afghanistan, Tony developed a set of armor to make his escape, which later served as the basic concept for his iconic Iron Man armors. Having seen the terrorists use his own weapons to fight the Americans, Tony decided to stop manufacturing weapons and began to fight injustice under the name Iron Man.
Following his change of heart for what direction Stark Industries should take, Tony and the company faced hardship from his father's own business partner Obadiah Stane, and several months later from the son of his father's other former business partner, Ivan Vanko, and Tony's business rival Justin Hammer. As Iron Man, Tony was able to successfully deal with the situations he had found himself in.
Later still, Iron Man became a part of the Avengers, a team of superheroes consisting created by Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. Working together as a team, they stopped an invasion by the Chitauri army under the command of Loki Laufeyson after the latter opened a portal to the galaxy using the Tesseract.
After the Battle of New York City, Tony suffered from some kind of anxiety problem and was faced with threats from the Ten Rings apparently lead by the Mandarin while dealing with Extremis infected assailants under the control of Aldrich Killian who attacked Tony and the people in his life.
Tony Stark was responsible for the Ultron programme which ultimately lead to the creation of the evil artificial intelligence known as Ultron bent on wiping out humanity from existence. Tony teamed up with the rest of the Avengers once again to fight Ultron and his army of robots.
Biography
Early life
Anthony Stark was born as the son of Howard and Maria Stark. As the son of the wealthy CEO of Stark Industries, Tony developed a talent for engineering at a young age. At age 4 he built his first circuit board, at age 6 his first engine, and at 17 he graduated summa cum laude from MIT. Both his parents died in a car accident some time later, and Obadiah Stane temporarily took up the ownership over the company until Tony returned to the lead the company at age 21.[1]
As the CEO of Stark Industries, Tony used his intelligence to develop smarter weapons, advanced robotics and satellite targeting, ushering in a new age for the modern weapons industry.[1]
Imprisoned by the Ten Rings
Tony held captive.
In 2009, Tony Stark flew to Afghanistan with his friend, United States Army colonel James Rhodes, to showcase the Jericho, one of Stark Industries' newest weapons. After the presentation, Tony left with the army convoy in a different vehicle than James did. After traveling for several minutes, the convoy was ambushed, and Tony was injured by one of a Stark Industries-produced missile and taken captive by the "Ten Rings," a terrorist group located in the mountains of Afghanistan.[1]
A fellow captive, Dr. Yinsen, removed several shrapnels from the area around Tony's heard that resulted from the missile explosion. As one shrapnel was too close to his heart to be removed with surgery, Yinsen attached an electromagnet to Tony's chest to prevent the shrapnel from piercing his heart, before Tony regained consciousness. Yinsen later helped Tony with conversing with the terrorists, who forced Tony to make a Jericho out of the resources they possessed. Left with no other choice but to cooperate, Tony agreed and began production with Yinsen as his assistant.[1]
Tony quickly made an arc reactor with the terrorists' resources to implement it into his chest as a replacement for the electromagnet. He also made designs for a large iron battle suit that he could use to make it escape from the terrorists, powered by the arc reactor. Together with Yinsen, they secretly began its construction while pretending its parts to belong to the Jericho missile. When confronted by the Ten Rings' leader Raza about the progress of the Jericho, Tony saved Yinsen from torture and were given one more day to finish the weapon.[1]
The next day, they finished the battle suit, the Iron Man Mark I. Yinsen installed Tony inside the armor while rigging the door with explosives to prevent their captors from entering. After the explosives went off and Yinsen realized uploading the suit's wouldn't be finished before they were discovered. Taking a gun with him, Yinsen left their cell to stall the terrorists while leaving Tony behind.[1]
Tony using the Mark I.
With his suit finally installed, Tony began making his way through the caves his cell was located in while taking out his captors. Near the exit he encountered Yinsen laying wounded on the ground, and insisted that he come with him. Yinsen, with his last breath, explained that this had been his intention and that he could be with his deceased family. After Tony passed away, he exited the cave and used flamethrowers attached to his suit to inflame his attackers and destroy the weaponry around the perimeter, before using his suit to fly off.[1]
The suit was not developed enough for flight and his power supply soon cut off, making the suit shut down and partially disassemble in mid-air. Tony crashed into a hill of sand, and began wandering the desert. Before his crash, however, the armor's energy signature was picked up by Nick Fury and Agent Sitwell at a distant S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. After some time he was found by two United States Army helicopters and taken back to the United States.[1]
Changing Stark Industries
- "I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International."
- ―Tony Stark at the press conference.[src]
Tony with Obadiah at the press conference.
Following his return to the United States, Stark met with his secretary Pepper Potts and personal driver Happy Hogan, and ignored Pepper advising him to go to a hospital to have himself checked; instead, he expressed his desire to have an American cheeseburger and to hold a press conference.
Once there, Tony, without consulting his business partner Obadiah Stane, declared that Stark Industries would from that day forth no longer manufacture weapons and that the company's weapon division would be closed down, after having seen his own weapons being used on the United States Army.
Later meeting with Obadiah at the company's arc reactor facility, Tony tried to convince his business partner to have the company take another look into arc reactor technology instead. Tony showed Obadiah the arc reactor in his chest that was keeping him alive, after which Obadiah assured him that as a team there was nothing they can't do and that they would stop with weapons manufacturing.[1]
Returning home, Tony developed an updated version of the arc reactor to replace the one he had made in Afghanistan. As soon as he had finished, he had Pepper join him in his garage to help him install the new reactor. Not without trouble, Pepper managed to install the new reactor and Tony told her to destroy the replaced one. He later traveled to the military base that his friend James Rhodes was stationed in, and informed him of a new project that Tony wanted him to be a part of. James waved the offer away, telling Tony to instead take some time off to get his mind right.[1]
Constructing the Mark II and First Flight
- " JARVIS... Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk."
- ― Tony Stark to JARVIS before taking off in the Mark II.[src]
After Rhodey turned down his offer, Tony returned to his mansion and started working on an upgraded version of the iron-armor with the assistance of JARVIS, his artificial intelligence. He named it "Mark II" and asked JARVIS to move the project to his own private server afraid that the design might fall into the wrong hands. He removed all the bulky parts from the original design to make it simpler and more efficient. [1]
Tony Stark working on the Mark II
With Dummy's help, Tony put together a more compact pair of leg-thrusters with which he conducted a minor flight-test. The thrust-force flung Tony off the floor and crashed him onto a nearby wall. He continued with his work and designed the rest of the armor's parts. While he was working on the arm-piece, Pepper told him that Obadiah had come to talk with him. When asked about his work by Pepper, Tony told her he was creating a "flight-stabilizer".[1]
He then went upstairs to meet Stane who expressed concern about Tony's absence at the Board of Directors meeting and the fall in Stark Enterprise's stock value. He questioned the company's new direction and asked Tony to hand over the arc-reactor to Stane's engineers for analysis. Tony evaded all of Obadiah's queries and went back to his work-station.[1]
Tony wearing the Mark II
Tony tested the leg-pieces again at lower thrust capacities which allowed him to successfully hover across his work-station and then land. It took Tony at least eleven days to assemble the armor complete with a visual interface, Tony donned the Mark II and prepared for flight. In spite of JARVIS warning him about the amount of calculations that remained, Tony took to the air and flew around Miami for a while. He then decided to see how high he could fly using the armor and started his ascend.[1] [2]
As Tony went higher, ice formed over the armor cutting off its power and put Tony in free-fall. By the time he reached the roadway, Tony broke off the ice and power returned to the suit, enabling him to fly again. Tony went back to his home and at the roof, asked JARVIS to turn off the suit which sent him crashing through his own house down to his workshop.[1]
Revelations at the Fundraiser
- " Tony: I didn't approve any shipment."
" Christine: Well, your company did !"
" Tony: Well, I'm not my company" - ― Tony and Christine regarding the weapons sold to Ten Rings[src]
Pepper's gift to Tony
Back home, Tony found a gift-package from Pepper that contained his former arc reactor kept inside a glass case with the words "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart" imprinted on it. He gave JARVIS necessary instructions to make the new armor ice-proof at higher altitudes and asked to paint it red-gold which ultimately constitute the Mark III. Meanwhile, Tony saw a news about the fundraiser being thrown under his name to which he was not invited. Tony resolved to attend the function while JARVIS finished the suit's upgrade.[1]
Christine questioning Tony about the weapons
At the event, Tony was met by Agent Phil Coulson who, on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., wanted to debrief Stark regarding his capture and escape from the Ten Rings. Ignoring Coulson, Tony went and danced with Pepper Potts. He then made a romantic advance on her and a failed attempt to kiss her. As he was waiting at the bar to get a drink for Pepper and himself, he was approached by Christine Everhart. Christine criticized Tony for being a hypocrite as his company selling weapons to terrorists and showed him photographs, which were taken the previous day, of Stark Industries' advanced weaponry being used by the Ten Rings in Gulmira to lay waste to the village. [1]
Tony denied any personal involvement regarding the weapons deal and immediately confronted Obadiah Stane about it. Stane then revealed to Tony that it was he who conspired to take Tony out of the board of directors and subtly disclosed that Stark Industries were indeed supplying weapons to the terrorists. [1]
Assault on Gulmira
- " It's not a piece of equipment. I'm in it. It's a suit..It's me ! "
- ― Tony Stark to Col. James Rhodes[src]
Tony watched a news programme on T.V. which spoke about the Ten Rings' destructive activities in Gulmira. Agitated by all that he learnt, Tony started randomly firing shots from his arm-thrusters across his workshop and realized its utility as a possible weapon. Without further ado, Tony put on the Mark III and flew to Gulmira.
Tony, during his ambush on the terrorists
At Gulmira, the natives were still being oppressed by the Ten Rings. It was during their attack on a village that Tony arrived there. With the help of his new armor, Tony defeated all the terrorists and left their leader to the villagers' mercy. Then he flew to a different part of the village and destroyed all the weapons that were kept there including the cache of Jericho missiles.[1]
As he was returning from Afghanistan, the suit's energy signatures were picked up by both S.H.I.E.L.D and the officers at Edwards Air Base. Baffled by the "bogey's" nature, the officers summoned Col. James Rhodes to inspect it. Rhodes, suspicious of Stark's involvement, immediately called him as the assault against the terrorists took place at an area which was a small distance away from where Tony was held captive. Stark objected to Rhodey's accusations. Before Fury could intervene, the Air Base sent two F-22 Raptors to apprehend Tony and the planes started firing at him.[1] [2]
Attacked by the Raptors
Tony hid under one of the aircrafts, called Rhodey and admitted that it was him that they were firing and not just an equipment. Discovering Tony under his plane, the pilot tried to shake him off which sent Tony crashing through the other plane's wing. The pilot ejected himself from the plane before it crashed but had difficulty in opening his parachute. As the first plane closed in on him, Tony flew towards the falling pilot and unjammed his chute for him, earning cheers from the officers at the airbase. Tony asked Rhodey to tell the press that it was a training exercise and went back home.[1]
Obadiah's Betrayal
- " When I ordered the hit on you, I was worried that I was killing the golden goose. But you see.. it was just fate that you survived it, leaving one last golden egg to give."
- ― Obadiah Stane as he was stealing Tony's arc reactor[src]
Pepper finds Tony wearing the armor
Back at the mansion, Pepper found Tony trying to get the armor off him and thereby learnt his secret. Later, he gave Pepper a flash-drive and asked her to use the drive to hack into Stark Industries' mainframe and download any information about the weapons deal she could find. Pepper initially denied his request and said that she wanted to quit. However, Tony was able to convince Pepper by speaking to her about his new-found sense of morality and she agreed to do it for him.[1]
Stane steals the arc reactor
Obadiah, who found Pepper snooping around the server, went to Tony's home later that night where he used an ultra-sonic device created by Stark Industries to paralyse Tony. He stripped the arc reactor off of Tony's chest and left him there to die. With whatever energy he had left, Tony crawled to his workshop to fetch his former arc reactor. By the time he got near the glass-case, Tony was out of breath and couldn't reach it. Dummy picked the arc reactor up from the table and then handed it to Tony. [1]
Tony smashed the glass-case open and inserted the arc reactor on his chest which returned life back to him. Meanwhile, Rhodes arrived to help Tony after Pepper phoned and asked him to check on Stark. With Rhodey's help, Tony put on the Mark III and flew off to stop Obadiah from using his arc reactor to commit destruction.[1]
Fighting the Iron Monger
- " Obadiah: You had a great idea, Tony. But my suit is advanced in every way"
"Tony: How'd you solve the icing problem?"
"Obadiah: Icing problem?" - ― Tony and Obadiah during their face-off[src]
Obadiah installed Tony's arc reactor on the armor he had created based on the Mark I's design and put it on. Pepper, who discovered that the armor was being kept in Sector 16 of Stark Industries' arc-reactor building, went there with Phil Coulson and a few other agents. After bursting the door open, they found the Mark I and Obadiah's upgraded designs stored inside. Suddenly, they were ambushed by Stane who was wearing the armor. Outside the building, as Stane prepared to kill Pepper, Tony arrived and sent Stane and himself crashing onto the highway.[1]
The altitude climb
Stane easily grabbed a car and was about to throw it at Tony when he fired at the Obadiah by focusing the reactor's energy on his chest, bringing his suit's power down. Stark fought with the Iron Monger on the street, laying waste to public property. When Stane exhibited his armor's flight capabilities, Stark decide to make a high-altitude climb to lure Obadiah in spite of Tony's arc reactor's low power. By the time Obadiah had caught up with Tony and captured him, ice formed over his armor cutting off his power supply and sent him falling down.[1]
The Mark III was nearly out of power and Tony landed on top his building with a slight wham. As he was taking off his armor, Stane appeared again and started attacking him. Realizing that he was outmatched, Tony asked Pepper to overload the huge arc reactor when he gave the signal. He then cut the wires on Stane's helmet to block his vision which forced Obadiah to open the armor and reveal himself. Tony hung from the ceiling above the reactor while Obadiah fired at him. He persuaded Pepper to overload the arc reactor quickly and escape from the building. Potts did as she was told.[1]
Obadiah, caught in the power surge
The initial energy wave pushed Tony out of harm's way but the power-surge that followed went through Obadiah's body. The conduction killed Obadiah and he fell down to the reactor with his armor resulting in a big explosion. [1]
Press Conference
- " Iron Man, that's kinda catchy. It's got a nice ring to it. I mean, it's not technically accurate, since it's a gold-titanium alloy. But it's kind of evocative."
- ―Tony Stark[src]
"The truth is... I am Iron Man."
The incident at Stark Industries appeared in newspapers and TV channels and the media dubbed Tony Stark "Iron Man". Agent Coulson provided Tony with an alibi to be read during his press conference which said Tony was in a yacht when the explosion happened. Obadiah would be declared dead in a plane-crash while he was on vacation. The alibi also said that the man in the Mark III was Tony's bodyguard. [1]
During the conference, Tony's statement was discarded by Christine Everhart who went onto say that Stark could never be a "super-hero". This hurt Tony's ego and instead of reading the fake alibi, he revealed his secret identity as Iron Man to the public, sending the media personnel into a surprised uproar.[1]
The Avenger Initiative
- "You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet."
- ―Nick Fury to Tony Stark[src]
Nick Fury talking to Stark about the Avenger Initiative
Later that night, Tony was approached by Nick Fury, then Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, who wanted Stark to become a part of S.H.I.E.L.D's Avenger Initiative. Tony denied Fury's offer immediately and mocked him. He accused Fury of breaking and entering into his home and asked him to get out. Before leaving, Fury told Tony that he'd be keeping an eye on Stark's activities. As he was driving back, he called Coulson and told him that Tony required the "right approach". Fury then asked Phil to get in touch with Natasha Romanoff as they were going to need her services.[1] [2]
Superhero celebrity
Tony's revelation at the press conference transformed his image in front of the public from just a billionaire to something of a celebrity. He became the centre of attention in all forms of media. Tony made the most out of his new fame and spent most of his time partying, making media appearances, or attacking terrorists, much to the dismay of Pepper and Rhodey.[3]
Rhodey visited Tony at his home and talked to him about the government's concern about his recent activities. The U.S. Military were discontented about how Stark got to points of action and took care of things before them without following the necessary protocols. Rhodey told him that he was appointed to prepare a report on Tony. Stark, however, denied all the allegations the military made against him.[3]
While they were talking, JARVIS alerted Tony about a terrorist attack going on at Al Kut. Tony immediately put on his suit discrediting Rhodes' request of doing a reconnaissance first. Tony reached the site before the military could and dealt with the situation all by himself.[3]
Tony told the media personnel how he hacked into their equipment to get the news about the attack first. Before leaving, he asked them to publicize his actions under the name "Iron Man" and not "Stark". Tony's unwillingness to give up the armor prompted the military to recruit general Thaddeus Ross and Justin Hammer to develop a top-secret vehicle.[3]