The character known as Doctor Victor Von Doom: ruler of Latveria, a genius with equal mastery over science and sorcery, and arch-enemy of the Fantastic Four, Reed Richards in particular. One of the Marvel Universe's first and most enduring super-villains, Doom's history is a storied one.

RELATED: Here Comes The Doom: 16 Things You Never Knew About Doctor Doom

One of the reasons for Doom's iconic status is that, unlike many other comic villains of similar stature, from Magneto, to the Joker to Lex Luthor, Doom is not bound to one particular nemesis. He may have been introduced in the pages of Fantastic Four and reserve particular enmity for them, but it's more accurate to describe Doom as the villain of the Marvel universe as a whole. Let's look at some of his clashes with the setting's heroes.

10 The Silver Surfer

With both characters debuting in The Fantastic Four, it was only natural the two would meet, and their battle proved to be one for the ages. Fantastic Four #57-60 featured one of the most famous storylines starring either character, when Doom lured the Silver Surfer to his castle in Latveria and stole his power cosmic.

Equipped with the Surfer's powers and his trademark board, Doom enacted a plan to conquer Earth, soundly defeating the Fantastic Four and any other attempts at resistance, only being defeated when Reed Richards tricked Doom into flying towards the upper atmosphere, where he was hit by a barrier Galactus had put in place to trap his former herald, allowing the Surfer to reclaim his powers.

9 The Hulk

Doom guest-starred in 1971's Incredible Hulk #143-144, a two-part tale where the Latverian ruler fakes Bruce Banner's death and brings him to Latveria. Doom intends to brainwash both Banner and the Hulk into his loyal servants; he has Banner reconstruct the Gamma Bomb that transformed him into The Hulk, though Doom's own consort Valeria frees Banner and sabotages the bomb.

RELATED: Marvel: 5 DC Heroes She-Hulk Could Defeat (& 5 She Would Lose To)

Doom also appeared twice in the 1996 Incredible Hulk animated series, playing a vital role in the origin of She-Hulk in his first appearance when he kidnaps Jennifer Walters to blackmail Banner into being his servant.

8 Thor

Thor Doctor Doom

One of Doom's most prominent features is his scarred face; injured in a lab explosion that cost him his place at Empire State University, Doom has chosen to mask himself rather than let himself suffer the indignity of others gazing upon his ruined face. Tormented by his appearance, Doom, in The Mighty Thor #182, kidnapped American surgeon Donald Blake to restore his appearance; Blake was, of course, the human alter-ego of Thor.

Doom has Blake thrown in the dungeon after the latter concludes there's no way to fix his face, though Doom's greater humiliation comes after Blake escapes as the God Of Thunder; Doom is unworthy to lift Mjolnir. For a man who fancies himself on the apex of existence, such rejection stung badly.

7 The X-Men

With Doom seeing himself as the pinnacle of humanity, he's a natural foil for the mutant superheroes of X-Men, themselves the next stage of human evolution. Doom appeared as the main antagonist of the 1987 mini-series Fantastic Four vs X-Men, where when Kitty Pryde is locked in "phase-mode," Doom offers to help heal her in order to prove himself capable of succeeding where Richards failed.

Doom has also more recently appeared as a supporting player in Jonathan Hickman's freshly debuted X-Men series, and given what the author has done with Doom in the past, his future clashes with the X-Men will surely be ones to remember.

6 Black Panther

With both being monarchs of their respective homelands, a bout between Doom and T'Challa, the Black Panther, was almost an inevitability. This came about in the Doomwar mini-series when Doom allied with the Wakandan isolationist group the Desturi to overthrow the nation's royal family.

RELATED: 5 DC Heroes Black Panther Would Defeat ( & 5 He Would Lose Against)

Doom's goal was to gain access to Wakanda's Vibranium stores, hoping the sound-resistant, ultra-strong metal could enhance the capabilities of his armor. T'Challa, however, chose to destroy the Vibranium stores rather than allow the Latverian ruler to gain access to them.

5 The Avengers

Doom's first encounter with The Avengers came in their eponymous series issue #25, when Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch arrived in Latveria searching for a long-lost relative, only to be met with reprisal from the country's monarch. Since then, Doom has had several clashes with the various iterations of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, most notably in the one-shot story Emperor Doom where he kidnapped the Purple Man and used the mutant's mind-controlling powers to enslave the Earth.

The Avengers were among those caught in Doom's iron grasp, leaving an unaffected Wonder Man to free his teammates and put an end to Doom's takeover. In the end, however, it wasn't the Avengers that end the reign of Emperor Doom, but Doom's own sense of boredom after having achieved his goal too easily.

4 Doctor Strange

With Doom being a practitioner of magic, Stephen Strange is a natural foe for him. Their most memorable meeting came in Roger Stern and Mike Mignola's 1989 Triumph and Torment, where the two compete for the title of Sorcerer Supreme.

Though Strange ultimately maintains his title, Doom is runner-up and able to ask a favor of Strange; from there, the two journey into the depths of Mephisto's Hell realm to rescue the soul of Doom's mother, Cynthia Von Doom.

3 Daredevil

If you think that Daredevil's relatively grounded setting and focus on street-level crime would preclude a meeting with Doom, you would be wrong. DD first meet the good Doctor in a crossover arc with the Fantastic Four, issues #39-40, where he helped them fend off an attack on the Baxter Building by Doom. Doom and Daredevil would meet again in issues #37-38, where Doom abducts Daredevil and switches bodies with him in an attempt to destroy the Fantastic Four in the guise of their ally.

More recently, issues #13-15 of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's Daredevil series saw Matt Murdock kidnapped and held hostage in Latverian capital Doomstadt by Chancellor Beltane; while Doom failed to put in a physical appearance, his presence loomed large over the arc and it was at his behest which Beltane acted.

2 Spider-Man

With how close Spider-Man is to the Fantastic Four, it makes sense he'd encounter their arch-enemy. Indeed, Doom was one of the first super-villains Spider-Man faced, in Amazing Spider-Man #5; Doom attempts to recruit Spider-Man as an ally, believing from the Daily Bugle's yellow journalism that the Wall-Crawler is a criminal rather than a hero. Before Spider-Man knew the Green Goblin, Venom, The Lizard, or Electro, he knew Doom.

RELATED: 6 Things The MCU Gets Right About Spider-Man (And 4 It Doesn't)

Doom was also a major villain in the relatively obscure 1981 Spider-Man series; essentially serving as the series' main villain, he appeared a grand total of six times, more than any of Spidey's traditional nemeses and with nary a mention of the Fantastic Four.

1 Iron Man

iron-man-vs-doctor-doom

With both armor-wearing inventor billionaires, Tony Stark might be an even better reflection of Victor Von Doom than Reed Richards ever was. As such, the two have met numerous times, first in Iron Man issues #149-150, "Doomquest," where after Stark attempts to stop a sale of his technology to Doom, the two are flung back to the time of Camelot in a Marvel-spin on A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court.

Since then, Stark has become arguably Doom's preeminent foe outside of The Fantastic Four, in both comics and other media; Doom was the villain of Iron Man's guest appearance in Fantastic Four World's Greatest Heroes, they develop great enmity in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and Doom became a recurring adversary in Iron Man: Armored Adventures' second season. A reformed Victor even briefly assumed the identity of Iron Man after Tony Stark fell into a coma; though temporary, this demonstrates how greatly the two contrast each other.

NEXT: Thanos vs. Doom: 5 Reasons Thanos Is Marvel's Number One Supervillain (& 5 Why It's Dr. Doom)