Dormammu

DORMAMMU

A maniacal, malevolent cosmic being with a diabolical desire to conquer and rule, Dormammu uses his extra-dimensional abilities to invade and attack realms and worlds across all planes of existence. With malicious minions always at his disposal, Dormammu remains a constant enemy of Earth and those—good or evil—who would defend it against galactic terrors. He lords over the Dark Dimension, forever plotting new ways to overtake our world, subjugate humanity, and augment his power.

OMNIPOTENT ORIGINS

Thousands (or perhaps even millions) of years before Dormammu ever knew of Earth, or desired to rule it, he and his sister Umar were beings of energy known as Faltines. After killing off their progenitor Sinifer, Dormammu and Umar were driven from their home dimension. Assuming material forms, they explored the multi-verse before settling in the Dark Dimension—a mystical realm containing multiple realities magically merged into a single domain.

At the time of their arrival, the Dark Dimension’s diverse denizens had been at peace for almost 28,000 years and the region was in the third millennium of the rule of King Olnar. Dormammu cunningly ingratiated himself to Olnar before, ultimately, dispatching the king and seizing control for himself. While ruling, Dormammu absorbed the Dark Dimension’s power and became a being of pure energy once more. As king, he made both allies and enemies and waged wars against realms while also creating pacts with others.

After teaming with Odin of Asgard and the embodiment of Eternity to banish an occult juggernaut called Zom to a netherworld amphora, Dormammu turned his attention to Earth - participating in the creation of Earthly demon-lord Satannish. His plot, however, was thwarted by Agamotto, the first Sorcerer Supreme, using the immensely powerful Eye of Agamotto amulet and the mysterious Staff of One.

After giving birth to Clea, Umar would go mad. Banishing his distressed sibling to a pocket dimension, Dormammu would take both Clea and her father Orini, King Olnar’s son, into his dark service.

POWERS UNLEASHED

As a Faltine, Dormammu is an immensely powerful mystical being capable of maintaining massive levels of magic. He is beatable but immortal, capable of dissipating his physical form and adopting one of pure energy.

Among Dormammu’s vast abilities are energy projection, protective shields, time travel, teleportation, telepathy, soul manipulation, life-force absorption, dimensional portal creation, elemental control, and the creation of artificial beings. In fact, a rundown of things Dormammu CAN’T do might be the shorter list. With all the power at his command however, it is Dormammu’s arrogance and poorly controlled temperament that usually lead to his downfall rather than the overwhelming force of a superior sorcerer.

Dormammu can call upon the mystical energies of the entire Dark Dimension, as well as his own innate power, however his abilities are somewhat limited when he’s physically present in another universe.

COSMIC COHORTS

Despite Dormammu’s insatiable thirst for conquest and domination, he is able to recognize allies and remain loyal to allegiances. He also, at one point, vowed to never attack Earth again after Dr. Strange helped save the Dark Dimension—recognizing that he was in debt to his arch-enemy. It’s a promise that he spends much time afterward trying to find a loophole around.

Dormammu may have little tolerance for other living beings, but he still manages to operate under his own warped version of a personal code. Once, his sense of nobility even leads him to berate Baron Mordo for interfering during an arranged duel with Strange.

Throughout his conquests however, Dormammu has been less interested in partnerships and more compelled to find beings to control and possess. Even his own sister was banished so that he could be the one ruler of the Dark Dimension. Dormammu considers himself superior to all other beings—even ones as powerful as Odin and Eternity, whom he once sided with.

What Dormammu has in spades, of course, are minions; either those he has subjugated or beings he’s created. Baron Mordo, Ast the All-Seeing, the Mindless Ones, the Guardian, and the Unknown Knight have all obeyed Dormammu’s orders and been sent to pick off his foes.

ETERNAL ENEMIES

Dormammu has clashed with many beings over the course of his existence, both cosmic and Earthly. It’s the Ancient One and his disciple, Doctor Strange, who have invoked the Dread One’s wrath the most however. Constantly repelling his attempts to overwhelm Earth, Strange easily overtook his mentor as Dormammu’s chief adversary after his numerous victories insulted Dormammu’s pride.

Dormammu’s greatest enemies have always been those of a mystical and magical nature, but while in physical form he’s capable of holding his own against most any Super Hero, including the Hulk. Dormammu’s plots to invade and conquer Earth have brought him toe-to-toe with the likes of the Avengers, the Defenders, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

DIMENSIONAL DEALINGS

Dormammu’s earliest run at Earth involved causing London’s Great Fire of 1666 and using the life force of its victims to link the two dimensions via Stonehenge. He’d later clash with Salem exorcist Hiram Shaw, co-create Jack the Ripper, gain Baron Mordo as a follower, and entertain a deal from the Red Skull for the Eye of Agamotto.

With the Ancient One fearing himself too weak to ward off Dormammu’s attempt to rule Earth, he sent his apprentice, Dr. Strange, to defeat the Dread One within the Dark Dimension. Dormammu set his minions against Strange, but they were handily defeated. Forced to team together after the Mindless Ones breached the Dark Dimension, Dormammu felt honor-bound to Strange and vowed to never again ambush Earth.

That promise didn’t stop Dormammu from trying to kill Strange though, as he then used Baron Mordo to carry out his dark wishes. Abducting the Ancient One and luring Strange to the Dark Dimension, Mordo attempted a dirty move in his duel against Strange, drawing the ire of Dormammu, who considered it dishonorable. Strange then defeated Dormammu again and, once more, Dormammu promised not to attack Earth, including via any loopholes.

Out of pettiness, Dormammu banished Clea, who had fallen in love with Strange, to the Realm Unknown. It wouldn’t be long before Dormammu found himself there however, having lost a misguided battle with Eternity and exiled to the exact same place. From there, Dormammu launched an all-new assault on Strange, but was defeated when his vow to never attack Earth backfired and magically drained him of power while he battled Strange in the midst of a galactic gateway.

Once again targeting Strange, Dormammu would possess his foe and frame him for crimes all over the world. Failing, Dormammu then joined forces with Loki, tricking the Defenders into obtaining a dimension-merging talisman called the Evil Eye. Loki, ever the trickster, decided he didn’t want to share the glory with Dormammu and convinced the Avengers to also track down the Evil Eye—leading to the Avengers/Defenders War. Scarlet Witch would cast a hex on the Eye that caused it to absorb Dormammu.

Dormammu’s further schemes included the kidnapping of Scarlet Witch, the ruse to rig a cosmic chess match with Odin whose outcome decided the universal balance of chaos and order, a plot to use power from the destruction caused by World War II, and an attempt to attach himself to Doctor Strange while his foe healed himself by traveling through various mystical realms.

Dormammu was tricked into becoming the ruler of the Mindless Ones after a frenzied family squabble for control of the Dark Dimension pitted Umar, Mordo, and Strange against him. Dormammu would soon free himself and absorb both Umar and Mordo into himself, becoming more powerful than ever. Strange, in a weakened state, teamed with the Secret Defenders to stop Dormammu, but he had grown too strong. Whether it was due to Strange’s own Hail Mary plan to trick his longtime adversary or not, Dormammu, giddy with power, decided that conquering one puny world wasn’t worth his time and left to pursue more interesting ambitions.

Dormammu followed the Guardians of the Galaxy back to their own dimension and clashed with that future realm’s Doctor Strange, who was the “Ancient One” of that era.

Dormammu unleashed one his most ambitious plots ever when he decided to go to war with the demons and death-gods that governed Hell itself - seeing it as a way to eventually get to Earth. With the demon lord he’d created, Satannish, and warlock Nicholas Scratch leading his armies, Dormammu sought to conquer all life and afterlife. He was eventually vanquished by the heroine Hellcat and the united forces of Hell.

In yet another stab at manifesting himself on Earth, Dormammu sent the Mindless Ones to attack the planet with hopes that the combined power used to stop them would summon him. Strange upended the Dread One however, sending Spider-Man back in time to a critical moment to stop his enemy from being able to re-enter Earth's universe.

Dormammu and Umar, now in sync and more powerful than ever, thanks to a shift in the Cosmic Axis, devoured and destroyed a number of members from the Pan-dimensional Oversight Council before combining their powers to defeat Eternity. Immersed in Eternity’s essence, Dormammu remade the Earth into his own hellish domain, with a Doctor Strange doppelganger as his lackey. Umar turned on him, however, stealing his powers after she took a liking to the Hulk.

As a last-ditch effort, acting in secret, and as a more of a “tempting demon” than a supreme overlord, Dormammu bonded with the Hood with the hopes of slowly transforming his new host into a demon so that he could step into the realm of Earth. He’d eventually be exorcised from the Hood by Hellstrom.

Sometime after facing Illyana Rasputin in Limbo, Dormammu plotted to infect humanity with his Mindless Plague, but was thwarted by the efforts of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Howling Commandos and the Absorbing Man.