Iron Man

Real Name
Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark

Occupation
Adventurer, president emeritus of Stark Industries, founder of Maria Stark Foundation; former CEO of Stark Enterprises, Stark Solutions, Stark Enterprises, Circuits Maximus & Stark International; former US Secretary of Defense, former technician for Askew Electronics, former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
Long Island, New York

Known Relatives
Howard Anthony Stark (father, deceased), Maria Collins Carbonell Stark (mother, deceased), Morgan Stark (cousin), Edward Stark (uncle, deceased), Isaac Stark, Sr., Isaac Stark, Jr. (ancestors, deceased)

Group Affiliation
Avengers, Initiative, Hellfire Club (outer circle); formerly S.H.I.E.L.D., Illuminati, Thunderbolts, Force Works, Queen's Vengeance

Education
Advanced degrees in physics and electrical engineering

Height
6'1"; (in armor) 6'6"

Weight
225 lbs.; (in armor) 425 lbs.

Eyes
Blue

Hair
Black

Powers
Formerly none, but after being critically injured during a battle with the Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injected his nervous system with a modified techno-organic virus to save his own life. This fused Stark's armor to his body, allowing him to store the inner layers of the Iron Man armor in the hollows of his bones as well as control it through direct brain impulses. He is also able to remotely connect to external communications systems such as satellites, cellular phones, and computers throughout the world. Because the armor's operating system is now directly connected to Stark's nervous system, its response time has been significantly improved. The Extremis armor grants him superspeed reactions and a healing factor able to regrow whole organs. He was able to stop Crimson Dynamo's heart and restart it.

Abilities
A genius level intellect that allows him to create a range of sophisticated inventions, most notably his Iron Man armor. Also possesses a keen business mind.

Other Info
Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark was born to Howard Anthony Stark and Maria Collins Carbonell Stark, Tony had a very high intelligence. At the age of 15 Stark entered the undergraduate electrical engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he graduated at the top of his class. When he was 21, he inherited Stark Enterprises because his parents were killed in a car crash. (To learn about Iron Man's parents and the family business, click on their names above.)

During an East Asian conflict, Stark Enterprises developed mini-transistors that Tony thought would help the war effort. While checking on his plant, which had been plagued by sabotage, Tony was injured by exploding shrapnel and captured by warlord Wong Chu. Chu forced Tony and another captive, famed physicist Ho Yinsen, to create weapons for him. All the while the lethal bit of shrapnel was slowly working towards Tony's heart. Tony and Yinsen created an iron suit that would keep Tony alive and allow them to escape. During the escape Yinsen was killed, sacrificing himself to allow Tony time to change for the first time to Iron Man. On his way home Tony met Helicopter pilot James Rhodes (future armored partner of Tony Stark called War Machine). After he arrived, Tony worked to improve the Iron Man armor. (To learn about the people above, just click on their names. Also, the third picture posted above is what Iron Man's first body armor looked like.)

In his early years Tony Stark became the corporate sponsor of the superhero group the Avengers. He, Iron Man, helped found the group with Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp, and the Hulk. A few notable villains from these early days include Mandarin, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow. (To learn about the group or the people above, just click on their names. Note: One of Black Widow's pictures on her bio page shows her in a very form-fitting outfit.)

Problems have occurred during Tony Stark's life: company takeovers, bankruptcy, business-related threats, and his hardest problem of all--alcoholism. His hardest fall left Tony homeless, after which he handed the Iron Man identity over to his friend Rhodes. However, Tony recovered and started a new company, Circuits Maximus, and swiftly returned as Iron Man. Around this time is when Iron Man battled Iron Monger (Obadiah Stane). (Obadiah had wanted to take over the Stark business and hated Iron Man). (To learn about the company and character above, just click on their names.)

All during this time Tony Stark's health was in rapid decline. Even after a heart transplant that saved his life, Tony still had health issues. His armor's cybernetic interface was causing his nervous system to deteriorate. It became serious enough that he had to fake his own death and enter suspended animation to survive. At this point Rhodes used the Iron Man identity again, but this time he equipped himself with a new armor created by Tony called the "Variable Threat Response Battle Suit", later known as the War Machine armor.

Tony's armor eventually grew so sophisticated that it became sentient. At first Tony allowed the armor to do his job as Iron Man, but it became increasingly dangerous. The armor even committed murder, slaying the villain, Whiplash. When this happened, Tony realized that he had to face his armor. During the ensuing battle, Tony went into cardiac arrest due to an injury he previously sustained battling Whiplash. Proving itself a hero, the armor ripped out its own components and created a cybernetic heart for it's creator, sacrificing itself in the process. (To learn about Whiplash, click on his name above.)

At one point, Tony revealed to the world that he was Iron Man. After this revelation he took the post as the President's Secretary of Defense to monitor the use of his technology by the United States Military. He was later forced to step down from the position when the Scarlet Witch went out of control and killed members of the Avengers, forcing them to disband. Stark publicly stated that he would no longer be Iron Man, but that there would always be one. Though of course Tony continued to be Iron Man while maintaining a secret identity. Recently, Tony injected himself with a Nanotech virus that integrated many of his suits functions with his own biological systems. He has also been a member of a secret group known as the Illuminati, along with Professor Charles Xavier, Reed Richards, Blackagar Boltagon, Dr. Stephen Strange, and Namor for many years. (To learn about the team and people above, click on their names. Note: Scarlet Witch has a couple revealing outfits on her bio page, and the Illuminati bio page shows Namor in a very tiny speedo-like outfit.)

Recently, a villain named Nitro detonated himself and the resulting explosion killed the majority of the New Warriors, as well as the children at a nearby elementary school and the residents of the surrounding neighborhood. In response to this tragedy, Capitol Hill proposed the Superhuman Registration Act, a government movement to register all super-powered beings as living weapons of mass destruction (requiring all costumed heroes to unmask themselves before the government and subject themselves to federally mandated standards). This event triggered what is called the "Civil War." The international organization S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly propositioned Captain America to lead trained soldiers to fight super-powered humans. He refused, and after being attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Anti-Superhuman Response Unit, became the leader of the "Anti-Registration" side. Iron Man, however, was in full support of the act and became the leader of the "Pro-Registration" side. After numerous skirmishes and a full out super hero battle in downtown New York, Iron Man emerged victorious. However, his former ally Goliath (Bill Foster) had perished combating Iron Man's forces, and Captain America was assassinated on the steps of the courthouse after his surrendering. Stark was later offered the position as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and he accepted the offer. (To learn about the different topics above, just click on the highlighted names.)

Any further information you would like to know about Iron Man, check it out at the Marvel.com's bio of Iron Man. http://www.marvel.com/universe/Iron_Man_(Anthony_Stark).