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Victor Von Doom is, above all odds, a star in his own right. We don't know about the rest of you, but we consider him to be the fifth member of the Fantastic Four - a member of the series so integral that when he's not involved, we're decidedly less interested.
Doom boasts neither powers nor inherent abilities - a rarity for any being in his genre of comic books. Victim of a troubled past, Victor's mother was taken from him early in life. Seemingly since that time, Doom has sought to prove himself to his peers. Chief among those is Reed Richards, the one man who has proved equal and better to Victor's astonishing intellect. Doom's irrational obsession and animosity towards Mr. Fantastic and his family might be his only fault, the one obstacle keeping his from truly achieving his larger desires - the conquest of all his surveys. The Latverian monarch's ambition might be kept in check by the Fantastic Four and their friends, but if anything, his lust for power grows every day, becoming more and more brazen.
If his depth, characterization and legacy in the Marvel Universe weren't enough, Doom has one other accomplishment that few in the industry have managed - he's one of the inspirations for one of the most infamous characters in pop culture - Darth Vader.