History Characters / IronManHeroes

* DependingOnTheArtist: The armor he designed himself and wore for the majority of his time (not the one pictured, that was designed by the original Tony and designed the one time this Tony wore it) was ''not'' drawn consistently ''at all''. Officially, this was supposed to look like [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/a/a3/Iron_Man_Armor_Model_YT1_from_Iron_Man_Vol_1_328_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170122055807 this]], but oftentimes, artists just drew a riff of the classic Mark 4 armor or even what the original Tony wore during ''The Crossing''.

* StoneWall: The Rescue armor is tough, but lacks any offensive capabilities. If Pepper wants to hurt somebody, she'll have to use her magnetism. Or throw something at them. She adds in [[MakeMeWannaShout a sonic blaster]] in ''Superior Iron Man'', but Tony already worked the sonic weakness out of his armor ahead of time, making her still relatively weak in that respect.

* DependingOnTheArtist: The armor he designed himself (not the one pictured, that was designed by the original Tony) was ''not'' drawn consistently ''at all''. Officially, this was supposed to look like [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/a/a3/Iron_Man_Armor_Model_YT1_from_Iron_Man_Vol_1_328_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170122055807 this]], but oftentimes, artists just drew a riff of the classic Mark 4 armor or even what the original Tony wore during ''The Crossing''.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Introduced in 1995, he dies in 1996 and has, as of 2023, has [[KilledOffForReal stayed dead]] (technically) since.

!!Anthony "Tony" Stark
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-iron_man_bleeding_edge_7937.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark
!!! '''Notable Aliases:''' Crimson Dynamo, Cobalt Man, Mark One
!!! '''Team Affiliations:''' ComicBook/TheAvengers, A.I. Army, Department of Defense, Force Works, ComicBook/NewAvengers, ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy, [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheIlluminati The Illuminati]], ComicBook/MightyAvengers, ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}, Stark Industries, Stark Resilient, ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/TalesOfSuspense'' #39 (March, 1963)

->''"When I put on this armor, I took on more power than any human was ever intended to have... and maybe more responsibility than my heart can truly bear. But today... I will do my job. I will protect you. No matter what it takes."''

Tony Stark was the arrogant son of wealthy, weapon manufacturer Howard Stark. Tony cared only about himself, but he would have a change of heart after he was kidnapped by terrorists and gravely injured with a piece of shrapnel in his chest. Pressured to create a weapon of mass destruction, Stark instead designed an electromagnetic harness to keep himself alive, and eventually, a suit of armor that could be powered by it powerful enough for him to escape. Tony uses his vast resources and intellect to make the world a better place as The Invincible Iron Man. Stark is a major name in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, and a founding member of the Avengers.

* TenMinuteRetirement: A couple times, most notably, Tony secretly retired and passed the mantle to Rhodey without actually telling most of his fellow Avengers that they weren't the same person under the armor.
* AbusiveParents: [[{{Jerkass}} Howard Stark]], Tony Stark's father, was verbally and emotionally abusive. As a child, Tony respected his father greatly and wanted to please him. However, in spite of Tony's genius, Tony's reluctance (and inability) to assimilate his father's "[[BlatantLies ethics]]" caused Howard to resent and despise his son. Howard's rejection hurt Tony deeply, and although Tony has long since lost all respect for his father, he's never entirely gotten over it, as shown in ''Iron Man: Legacy of Doom'':
-->(''in Mephisto's Realm, Howard Stark's spirit appears before Tony'')\\
'''Tony:''' Y-you?\\
'''Howard:''' Losing again, eh, boy? You always were a wimp. Never had the ''stones'' to do what had to be done.\\
'''Tony:''' I always tried to do what was ''right!''\\
'''Howard:''' Brilliance isn't enough. You'll never reach your true potential worrying about ''consequences''. You're '''''weak.'''''. [...] [[IHaveNoSon You're no son of mine]].\\
'''Tony:''' ''I'd heard it all before. But the pain was still enough to distract me from the physical task at hand.''\\
(''Howard lunges; Tony flees, unable to attack his own father'')\\
'''Howard:''' '''''COWARD!''''' You were my greatest shame, but I'll make a man of you yet! I'll ''beat'' it into you!\\
(''later, after Howard is defeated'')\\
'''Tony:''' ''You can't kill something already dead. [[IronWoobie I'd been telling myself that for a long time]].''
** In ''Legacy of Doom'', Howard is also physically abusive, but it's unclear whether or not Howard ever physically abused Tony in life. (Although Tony doesn't seem too surprised by Howard trying to kill him; but then again, Tony ''is'' in hell.)
** Howard makes Tony drink a cup of bourbon when he's a child in order to win some momentary approval. He may have not forced it down Tony's throat, but he did coerce Tony into doing it, and that transcends into physical.
** ''The Secret Origin of Tony Stark'' seems to have given a major reason to all of this - [[spoiler:stress due to the fear that the Rigellian Recorder would realize that Tony wasn't his true son, that he was adopted to save his biological son, Arno, from being used as a weapon. Tony... is still mixed about the whole thing.]]
* AGodAmI: After his personality was changed due to the magic inversion of Axis. He's since dropped this after [[CosmicRetcon convenient changes to reality]].
--> '''Superior Iron Man''': I'm the most intelligent, capable person on the planet. I'm not '''playing''' God. All this time...I've been playing human.
** It's started to leak back ever since "The Secret Origin of Tony Stark", and the revelation of the Godkiller Armor. Ever since, Tony's been building his own suits patterned after the Celestial-slaying superweapon, either consciously or not.
* TheAlcoholic: Has struggled with drinking ever since the infamous "Demon in a Bottle" storyline. He fell back off the wagon during ''ComicBook/FearItself'', sacrificing his sobriety as a way to convince Odin to help. He's since worked to get back on. His ''Superior'' period had him fall off again.
* ArmCannon: Several suits have allowed Stark to access varying arm cannons. Most notable, the Bleeding Edge Armor had specialized ports for attachments, including several types of massive blasters and cannons for the arms.
* TheAtoner: For Tony, Iron Man is a chance to redeem himself from his former life as a weapons manufacturer.
* BadassBookworm: One of the most dangerous bookworms in the whole Marvel Universe.
* BashBrothers: With Captain America and War Machine.
* BeardOfSorrow: When Tony became an alcoholic, this happened.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Has this towards [[spoiler:Arno]].
* BiggerStick: The Iron Man armor is the most sophisticated PoweredArmour in existence, with only Dr. Doom able to truly match him, and Stark works very hard to keep it at the cutting edge, maintaining a vital technological lead over any and all of his business rivals and supervillainous competitors.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Before his secret identity was outed both to his comrades and the public, Tony crafted a heroic, straightforward, and occasionally playful persona for his fictional bodyguard identity. He becomes way more casual and borderline careless in expressing his many flaws to those in the know.
* ByronicHero: Tony Stark is womanizing, self-destructive, and forever angsting over his past as an arms-dealer.
* BodyguardBetrayal: Before they learned they were one in the same, Pepper and Happy believed that Iron Man was coercing Stark into acting as his corporate pawn while publicly touting himself as the man's bodyguard.
* BoldlyComing: He's tried, at any rate. Unfortunately, the alien species in question found facial hair hideously disgusting, so he got kicked out.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: ''The Crossing'' claimed he'd been brainwashed since the earliest days of the Avengers to serve Immortus. Eventually, ''Avengers Forever'' did a bit of soothing by claiming he'd actually just been slightly brainwashed since ''Operation: Galactic Storm'' (and it hadn't quite worked properly).
* BrokenAce: Tony Stark is one of the smartest, richest, and most popular people on Earth, witty, a ladykiller who had everything anybody could ever want in their life. However, deep inside he suffers from self-hatred (which has even developed into suicidal tendencies), alcoholism, control issues, and the scars left by his abusive father. He has even stated he feels he doesn't deserve the friends and good things in life he has. Following the Civil War, Tony's guilt over Captain America's death and the actions he took would make him occasionally break down.
* BrokenPedestal: Around the time Spider-Man finally officially joined ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'', Tony Stark became something of a mentor to Peter. The two gravitated to each other, being the only members of the team at the time who were scientifically minded, and after the infamous ''The Other'' storyline, Tony even designed Peter a new Spider-Man armor much like his own. This "mentorship" culminated during ''[[ComicBook/CivilWar2006 Civil War]]'' when Tony essentially made Peter his NumberTwo on the Pro Registration side. Eventually, their friendship completely dissolved when Peter learned [[WellIntentionedExtremist the extremes Tony was resorting to]] during the event.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Any time he loses the armour, he typically manages to still acquit himself well.
* TheCasanova: The guy loves women. Lots of them.
* CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown: Inverted. Trying to dodge the legal repercussions of his actions in ''ComicBook/ArmorWars'', as part of his secret identity at the time, Tony claims that someone else is Iron Man -- and presses this lie to rejoin the ComicBook/WestCoastAvengers after they tossed him out of his ass for his actions during the story.
* ChestBlaster: The iconic Unibeam, his chest-mounted super Repulsor. He traditionally only uses it as a finishing move or as a desperate attempt to damage something out of his league, because it drains so much of his power to utilize compared to the weaker, but faster gauntlet Repulsors.
* ChickMagnet: Tony Stark is the epitome of this trope. It'd be easier to list the women he hasn't dated in the Marvel verse.
* ChivalrousPervert: Famously the biggest womanizer in the Marvel Universe, yet he's incredibly polite to the women he's chatting up, cares deeply about most of his exes (the Marvel Now relaunch's opening story arc essentially boils down to him wanting to protect the legacy of one of his exes after her life's work is stolen and abused), is VERY protective of his on-again/off-again love interest Pepper, honestly loved (and still loves) Madame Masque, and is always completely supportive of his female teammates, no matter how they dress and pose.
** At least one fan has argued that Tony is best described as a "serial monogamist"; when he's seriously involved with someone, he's completely faithful to them, but he rebounds from the invariable breakup quickly and goes looking for love again.
* ChromeChampion: Enforced: He briefly attempted to fight crime and help people in the gunmetal grey suit he created in captivity, but people didn't receive the sight of a lumbering, booming-voiced, dark colossus who could juggle lions stomping onto the scene. Dying it with gold paint helped give Tony's alter ego a more wholesome appearance.
* ComicBookDeath: He died during ''The Crossing'' and was [[DyingToBeReplaced replaced]] by a younger version of himself. Then that version died in the Onslaught deal. After ''Heroes Reborn'', he got better (sort of. See Fusion Dance).
* CrazyPrepared: Tony has a suit for any and every situation. Sometimes several suits for each situation, just in case he loses one. This has caused friction between team members before, who have been less than thrilled to discover that Tony's built a suit designed to take them down in case he ever needs to.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: A recurring theme for Tony. Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, Iron Monger, Firepower, The Hammer Twins and Detroit Steel are all his fault to some extent.
* CunningLinguist: He's fluent in a grand total of seven languages: English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, French, Russian, and Urdu. According to Tony himself, he also possesses proficiency in several other Middle Eastern languages.
* DatingCatwoman: Unsurprisingly, Tony's lecherous habits don't stop at civilians and allies. He still has a history with villain Madame Masque, much to the consternation of his allies
-->'''Namor:''' Why would you want to date a woman who looks like Doctor Doom?
* DeadpanSnarker: Has had a sarcastic streak since early in his career. It has become more pronounced following the films.
* DeathSeeker: Tony, to a [[TheWoobie horribly painful degree]]. And, no, it didn't start during/after ComicBook/CivilWar2006, either, though that certainly made it worse. It started when he was struck with [[SurvivorGuilt survivor's guilt]] over the [[MyGreatestFailure death of Yin Sen]] -- that's right, it started with his ''origin story'' -- and just kind of [[FromBadToWorse went downhill]] at breakneck speed from there.
* DependingOnTheWriter: How strong his sense of morality is, and how close he is to falling off the wagon. Also, his level of smugness and / or snarkery.
* TheDeterminator: First became Iron Man by surviving shrapnel to his chest and building a powered suit of armor under his captors' noses to escape. Been fighting the good fight ever since.
* DisabilitySuperpower: For the longest time, Stark's early Iron Man suits were basically glorified pacemakers to keep the shrapnel in his chest from reaching his heart.
* TheDreaded: Iron Man is now this to the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim, who are basically The Fair Folk on crack, with even Malekith the Accursed, an incredibly powerful psychopathic sorcerer who fights and actively trolls Thor, being wary of him at the very least. Malekith also comments, after Tony, in a Cold Iron armour, tears his way through Svartalfheim hunting for the rings of the Mandarin (which Malekith had acquired by murdering the former owners), that the upshot of it is that they now have a new story to terrify the children with.
* DrowningMySorrows: Tony, already established as a recovering alcoholic, fell off the proverbial wagon hard when his company got taken over during TheEighties.
** [[ManipulativeBastard Obadiah Stane]] went out of his way to make Tony's life hell for the express purpose of making him fall off so that he ''could'' take over.
** Later, when Carol Danvers (ComicBook/MsMarvel) loses her power ''the second time'' (as Binary), she fell onto this and caused her to get expelled from ComicBook/TheAvengers. She manages to get out of this thanks to the counseling from Iron Man himself, as a fellow alcoholic.
** In ''Fear Itself'' he started screaming at Odin and the other gods, yelling that if they wanted a sacrifice he'd give them the "only thing he could give worth anything": his sobriety, by taking a huge swig of alcohol.
* EliteSchoolMeansEliteBrain: A prodigal genius who studied at MIT and Cambridge.
* EnergyWeapon: Repulsor rays are the armor's primary energy weapon.
* FatalAttractor: Tony has dated supervillains (Madame Masque), plants hired by his enemies to conduct psychological warfare against him (Indres Moomji), other businessmen/women who were only trying to take advantage of him (Sunset Bain, arguably Tiberius Stone), one night stands who may arguably have date-raped him (Heather), and creepy possessive stalkers who tried to kill him (Kathy Dare, the Living Armor), along with a string of single dates and/or one night stands with vapid supermodels and society women. Even with his most stable girlfriend, Rumiko Fujikawa, she repeatedly jerked him around for her own amusement and outright cheated on him with Tiberius Stone before ultimately being killed by a supervillain.
* {{Fiction500}}: One of the richest men on the planet. Even when he's not an active member of the Avengers, they're usually bankrolled by Stark Industries.
* FlyingBrick: Thanks to his armor, he can tank a ''lot'' of damage and punch back just as hard.
* FlyingFirepower: His armour enables both flight and the ability to level buildings.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Initially, his selfishness, arrogance and poor communication skills rubbed a lot of his teammates the wrong way, but they worked together long enough to earn each other's genuine trust and respect. After Civil War, depending on the author and title, he's pretty consistently tolerated at best, even by most other pro-registration heroes. Every time he almost salvages his reputation, he does something else to ruin it with the team again.
* FriendsWithBenefits: This describes Tony Stark's relationship with ''most'' of the recurring characters he's slept with. Most prominently, ComicBook/SheHulk, since the two of them are [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] that are well known for [[ReallyGetsAround "getting around"]].
* FunctionalAddict: Under some writers more than others. Just how close Stark is to diving head first into a bottle is a pretty major part of his modern characterisation in the comics. The MCU movies stay away from the alcoholism storyline completely, by design (it's Disney and they're aimed at kids and young people... and RDJ understandably refused to go into the Demon in a Bottle storyline, mooted for ''Film/IronMan2'', as it would put him in a headspace he'd spent a very long time trying to leave), although they do show Tony drinking casually once in a while.
* FusionDance: Part of Tony's resurrection after ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' was [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Franklin Richards]] recreating the heroes closer to what he remembered and [[http://www.cbr.com/abandoned-love-the-titanic-tale-of-teen-tony-stark-aka-iron-teen/ in Tony's case]], resurrecting him and fusing him with Teen Tony.
* TheGadfly: Most modern depictions of Stark depict him as trolling for reactions a lot of the time.
* GadgeteerGenius: Stark is one of the premiere tech constructors in the Marvel Universe.
* GeniusesHaveMultiplePhDs: Brilliant engineer/inventor/industrialist Tony Stark has multiple [=PhDs=], though the number tends to vary: in ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'' he says he has three, while in a 2010 issue of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' he says he has seven.
* GoldColoredSuperiority: Iron Man is often called "The Golden Avenger" even though he's mostly red nowadays (although he once had a fully golden armor).
* GoodIsNotNice: Tony Stark has never been the nicest guy, yet he still cares about saving the world and is the first to put himself on the line for humanity when it comes down the wire.
* GrandfatherClause: Tony Stark is one of the few mainstream superheroes (along with ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/GreenArrow) who can still play the HonestCorporateExecutive trope ''somewhat'' straight, even after [[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/28/americans-views-about-oligarchs-have-grown-somewhat-more-negative-since-2020/ public opinions about oligarchs in the real world]] have shifted negatively, largely because that trope was the whole ''raison d'être'' for Iron Man in the first place.
* GuileHero: Even with his modern Iron Man suits putting his power level among his more powerful peers, Tony still relies on his guile as his first and most useful weapon.
* HandicappedBadass: For a time, he was paralyzed after being shot by a crazy lover, using the armor as a means of getting about. Things proceeded to get worse, resulting in Tony nearly suffering total failure of his entire nervous system, and having to go into suspended animation before dying.
* HeartLight: The power source of the suit is the same as the magnet keeping the shrapnel out of his heart. In the film version, and most animated versions that came after the first film, the "arc reactor" in Tony Stark's chest always generates a light that can be seen through his shirt.
* HeroicBastard: His biological parents, Jude and Amanda, weren't married.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: After ''Armor Wars'', then ''Civil War'' and ''Secret Invasion'', in some comics he became known as the man whose leadership led to the death of Captain America and allowed the Skrull Empire to nearly conquer the Earth. And during ''World War Hulk'' a lot of Hulk supporters hate him because of the whole "shot Hulk into space" thing.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Pepper Potts, Black Widow and Bethany Cabe.
* HeroicSacrifice: During ''ComicBook/FearItself'', Tony furious that Odin refuses to aid Earth, decides to sacrifice his sobriety to get the god's attention.
* HeroicSuicide: Storyline "Execute Program", a villain remotely hijacks several of Tony's Iron Man suits, causing them to go on a rampage all over the world. Tony takes down four of the five but is unable to defeat the last one, which is about to crush Captain America. Because the suit is controlled through software that's plugged directly into Tony's brain (long story), he realizes that he can deactivate it by killing himself. Which he does, by using his suit's power source to give himself a massive electric shock (don't worry, [[OnlyMostlyDead he gets better]]).
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Rhodey, until ''Time Runs Out,'' and Captain America, until ''Civil War''.
* HiddenHeartOfGold: He may not always be willing to admit it, but he does care about his teammates and making the world a better place.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: After becoming Iron Man, he turned his company around and became very concerned with morality and making the world a better place, even in his civilian life. He's turned away numerous projects and dangerous employees on moral grounds, at great expense to both his wallet and his well-being.
* HowardHughesHomage: Oligarch-playboy-engineer-superhero [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]]. He even designed for the military -- munitions instead of planes -- and went through a major struggle with a debilitating psychological problem, although in Tony's case it was alcoholism, not OCD. In his early comics appearances, he even had the mustache. Due to ComicBookTime, these days his father -- actually named Howard -- is portrayed as even more of one.
* InspectorJavert: Becomes this after ''Civil War'', relentlessly pursuing the New Avengers when he's got the opportunity and trying to arrest them. The opening issue of ''Mighty Avengers'' has him tell Carol Danvers his reasoning: If they don't, SHIELD will, and they'll be much less restrained about it.
* InsufferableGenius: He just loves to rub his intellect in people's faces.
* IWarnedYou: Just before ''Civil War'', he and Namor have one of these exchanges. Namor angrily asks if Stark's going to say that if they'd just listened to him years ago, the whole situation the superheroes are facing wouldn't be happening. Tony's response? "Yes."
* JerkassBall: On the occasions he's not just being a straight jerkass, for a genius he can cling to this one pretty hard. The usual consequence is straining or outright ruining his relationships with the other heroes.
** During ''Operation: Galactic Storm'', he's much snappier than usual with pretty much everyone, culminating in him pulling rank over Captain America and taking a bunch of Avengers to go kill the Supreme Intelligence. Not for nothing ''The Crossing'' claimed he'd been brainwashed at this point.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While Tony can be a smug narcissist who's a bit of a showoff, his heart's in the right place and he works hard to make the world better.
* TheLancer: In a "traditional" Avengers team line-up, he plays this role to Captain America's leadership.
* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: He's generally happy not to bring up the "Teen Tony" days.
* LightIsNotGood: During the ''Superior Iron Man'' days. He switches his normal red-gold armors for a grey-silver number, as he's being a total, obnoxious ass.
* LightningBruiser: The standard Iron Man armor makes him incredibly strong, quick, and resilient.
* LikeASonToMe: This was his relationship with Peter Parker, when he brought him under his tutelage right before the Superhuman Civil War, and using this relationship was how he convinced Peter to unmask as Spider-Man. When he left Stark to join Captain America (for some fairly understandable reasons), it hurt Tony arguably just as deeply as fighting Steve did.
* LonelyRichKid: His background in a nutshell, merged with IntelligenceEqualsIsolation.
* LovesMyAlterEgo: Played with. During his early career, people on the outside regarded his Iron Man persona warmly as a selfless hero, but thought of him as little more than a bodyguard vigilante with above average intelligence. Learning that they were one and the same caused Hank Pym to experience a HeroicBSOD as he was no longer the sole genius among the original Avengers. In contrast, Tony was respected for his intellect, but was mistrusted and often vilified by the media and his enemies as they still believed him to be the CorruptCorporateExecutive he was before his superhero origin.
* MergerOfSouls: While nothing was done with it, the aforementioned FusionDance did give Tony his teen counterpart's memories.
* MillionairePlayboy: Tony used to play up his image as an extravagant playboy to deflect suspicions about being the man in the Iron Man suit. As with most super heroes, his secret identity got leaked to the public eventually.
* MoreExpendableThanYou: Tony does this for ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, at one point asphyxiating himself in the process of (successfully) [[CPRCleanPrettyReliable giving CPR]]. That time his reasoning is explicitly, 'He's more important', although he's tried to kill himself to save Cap several times.
* MoreThanMindControl: Tony's arrogance has been an avenue for controlling him via brainwashing at least three times in his career. During the time Morgan Le Fay used magic to zap the Avengers into being her servants, Hawkeye pointed out to Cap that going for Tony first wasn't a good idea since Tony was going to buy far more easily into the whole "feudal lord" thing.
* MrViceGuy: Alcoholism, arrogance, and womanizing tend to be his favorite vices. He got help for the alcholism, and helped ComicBook/CarolDanvers through her troubles with it, though during ''Fear Itself'', he ritually sacrificed his sobriety to get Odin's attention and thereby his workshop (where he was surrounded by enabling dwarves).
* NeverMyFault: He's never actually apologised for his deeds in ''Civil War'' and ''Civil War II''. In the case of the former, he even said after wiping his memory he'd have done everything he did over again.
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: He has several doctorates, but almost ''never'' is actually referred to as Doctor Stark. It's almost exclusively Mister Stark, unless he points it out.
* OffTheWagon:
** He's fallen off a few times, most infamously during the ''Iron Monger'' saga, when Obadiah Stane drove him into a mental breakdown.
** He jumped off it in ''Fear Itself'' to get Odin's attention and his workshop - and was then surrounded by dwarf enablers.
** He fell off due to the stress of dealing with Incursions in secret from his Avenger teammates, and proudly embraced it when his personality was inverted and he became the Superior Iron Man after Axis.
* {{Omniglot}}: Tony Stark, in addition to English, speaks fluent French, German, Russian, Chinese... That's not counting his armor's translation software.
* OneManArmy: Iron Man, who has been described as wearing a fighter jet, although that's an understatement. Even better when he uses his Extremis to control multiple suits simultaneously.
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: Was once eligible to wield Excalibur itself. Doctor Doom, who was also in the room and had (naturally) tried his hand, wasn't amused.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Tony means well (''usually'') but he's really bad at explaining things to folk until it's far too late.
** For example: During ''Avengers'' Vol 3, Tony noticed from the outset that Carol Danvers is turning into an alcoholic. But, despite the problems of a FlyingBrick developing a HairTriggerTemper when she's drunk on duty, Tony refuses to speak up because it's "not his place", until Carol really screws up.
** And another: Before ''Civil War'', Tony learns about the Superhuman Registration Act, which he does tell everyone he can about. What he also learns is that the government's alternate plan is to just try and hunt down every superhuman everywhere... which Tony doesn't bother to tell anyone about (except Steve Roger's corpse).
* ThePornomancer: He provides the page image and quote for a reason.
* PornStache: Believe or not but Iron Man sported [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQR5wWq1NrsY3uaMT_jWTOp_f12lYLv1W_-IA&usqp=CAU a truly impressive pornstache]] in the 80s during the ''ComicBook/ArmorWars'' saga. Tony in later comics shaved it back to his smaller stache before getting his current bearded look.
* PoweredArmor: The Iron Man suits are among the most famous, if not the prime example, in comic books.
* PowerPalms: The repulsor rays in his hands are perhaps his most iconic weapons.
* PragmaticHero: In ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006''. When faced with the possibility of the implementation of a Superhero Registration Act, Iron Man tries to prevent it, to the point of speaking in a hearing against the SHRA. However, once the act becomes an inevitability and is subsequently passed, he decides to support it, not only hoping it could be diffused, but knowing that resisting the law would bring dire consequences for the superhero community. His methods to win the ensuing war between the pro-SHRA faction and the anti-SHRA forces (led by Captain America) include the creation of a prison for outlaw vigilantes in the Negative Zone and the recruitment of the supervillain team known as the Thunderbolts.
-->"''To do what I needed to do to win this quickly-- I knew that meant you [Captain America] and I would probably never speak again. Or be friends again. Or partners again. I told myself I was okay with it because I knew I was right and I--I knew it was saving lives. It was!! It was the right thing to do! And--and--and I was willing to get in bed with people we despise to get this done. And I knew the world favors the underdog and that I would be the bad guy. I knew this and I said I was okay with it.''" (from ''Civil War: The Confession'' #1)
* {{Pride}}: Being rich, handsome, and a brilliant inventor he originally did not care who he sold weapons to until it almost killed him. He started helping others, but almost regularly takes his own path without consulting others, insisting that he "knows" what to do and that others' opinions are not worth considering. Sooner or later, it always come back to bite him.
* PrimaryColorChampion: Ever since the Mark 3 armor, the Iron Man armor has usually been red and yellow (though sometimes it's red and silver, or just entirely red).
* ReallyGetsAround: Has slept with or tried to sleep with most major female characters in the Marvelverse (excepting those that are taken by his friends or are underage).
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Tries to be one as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., even though his method of management rubs a few of the old-school (like Dum-Dum Duggan) the wrong way. Exactly where he fell depended on who was writing him. In ''Avengers: The Initiative'', he immediately steps in once it's become clear Gyrich has ''massively'' crossed the line, and cans his ass.
* RedIsHeroic: Iron Man's standard color scheme is red and gold, although some of his "specialized" suits buck the trend.
* RedOniBlueOni: Plays with this trope with Captain America. They wear the respective colors of a Blue and Red Oni, and seem to fit those roles accordingly, with Cap being the responsible, upright leader of the Avengers and symbol of all that is good in his country, and Iron Man being a oligarch playboy who often struggles with alcoholism and his own neurosis. However, when the situation calls for it Cap is more than willing to take a stand and do what he feels is morally right, even if it means breaking the law and and defying the government, and is guided more by his emotions, while Iron Man tends to be more pragmatic and logical in his decisions and philosophy, and will go to any lengths to protect the world, even if goes into KnightTemplar territory.
* {{Retcon}}: Tony was originally one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D., even being among those who inducted Nick Fury. Due in part to the march of ComicBookTime, this has been excised, and now it's ''Howard'' Stark who helped found the modern S.H.I.E.L.D.
* RocketBoots: Part of his armour.
* RunningGag: Tony complaining about or reacting negatively to magic. He hates magic.
* ScienceHero: Less so than most other Science Hero Avengers; he's less of a scientist and more of builder, and is generally referred to, not as a scientist, but as an engineer specifically.
* SecretIdentity: In the early days, Tony claimed that Iron Man was his bodyguard. These days, the secret is out in the open, as Tony Stark revealed it in the July 2002 edition; in this case, it actually got him in trouble as the Iron Man armour was legally now the US Government's to replicate. He eventually managed to make his identity secret again, then publicly revealed it during ''Civil War''.
* SelfMadeSuperPowers: During the ''Extremis'' six-issue arc, Tony Stark modified the titular virus to store his armor inside his body, directly interface with technology, use some of its powers without manifesting it, enhanced reflexes and regeneration of both his body and armor. He later develops Extremis 3.0, which grants him the ability to alter his appearance, a healing factor, enhanced strength, agility and reflexes. He also claimed it can make people immortal.
* ShadowArchetype: #293 positions the Controller as one to Tony and his current status quo: Whereas Tony has been paralyzed and is consciously neglecting his own recovery in order to continue to operate as Iron Man (using a remotely-controlled armor), the Controller has mind-controlled several of Stark's employees in order to force him to help him cure his own broken body.
* SharpDressedMan: "Sharp Dressed Man" might as well be Tony Stark's theme song.
* SingleEpisodeHandicap: Subverted with his alcoholism. Played straight in the Bronze Age; after being shot by PsychoExGirlfriend Kathleen Dare in vol 1 #242, he was left paralyzed until he bought out a company with an experimental new "biochip" project and underwent risky experimental surgery to repair his damaged spinal cord in vol 1 #248.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: One scene in The Invincible Iron Man has Tony and Reed Richards playing each other on about ten different chessboards at the same time.
* SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX: Invoked in ''The Secret Origin of Tony Stark'' when ComicBook/DeathsHead accuses him of being prejudiced against robots.
-->'''Death's Head''': You’re not one of those guys who has a code against killing '[[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman except for robots]]'? I hate those krypto-fascists.
-->'''Iron Man:''' No! Absolutely not! Some of my best friends are robots an-- That sounds kind of robot racist, right?
-->'''Death's Head''': [[BluntYes Yes]].
* SwissArmySuperpower: Transistors were his original technological solution of choice, and those have been consistently replaced by the cutting edge tech of the era of whoever's writing him at the time.
* SurvivorsGuilt: ''Fatal Frontier'' reveals that one of Tony's most tragic fantasies is Yinsen surviving their imprisonment instead of him, believing the more noble scientist could have made the world a better place.
* TakingTheBullet: Tony Stark does this [[MartyrWithoutACause far too often for good sense]] during battles, especially for ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. Granted, his protective armor does give him some logical basis for this, but he still frequently winds up badly injured.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Tony is tall, dark-haired and very much a handsome.
* TeenGenius: A former one. He was accepted into MIT when he was fourteen and graduated with double-majors in physics and engineering when he was seventeen. Shortly thereafter, his father had him submitted into Cambridge University, where he earned three doctorates, presumably also in engineering and physics, by the time he was around nineteen.
* TheTeamBenefactor: Even when he's not an active member, he's usually funding the Avengers.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Early on, he used military grade weapons to battle street level crime. This philosophy still plays a large role in how Tony goes into battle.
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: During ''Civil War'', he insists he's on Lawful (obeying the Registration Act). Given his acts involve creating a clone of a friend which then murders another person, and imprisoning people, minors included, for life without chance of hearing or parole (in a dimension known to cause suicidal despondency in some people), this rings more than a little hollow.
* TokenEvilTeammate: He's nicer than the typical Marvel MadScientist and cares deeply for everyone, but he's very far removed from being TheCape as he's willing to do some morally questionable things to save the day that his more heroic allies could never bring themselves to do.
* TookALevelInJerkass: ''Civil War'' through ''Secret Invasion'' Tony takes several, becoming increasingly cold, controlling and authoritarian towards his teammates and long-time friends. His brain-wipe removes it.
* TragicHero: He's an arrogant, smarmy, womanizing jackass; but his life has been one long TraumaCongaLine, and due to his awareness of his flaws, he's a deep, dark pit of TheAtoner bordering on DeathSeeker, to the point where [[MoreExpendableThanYou he feels that all his teammates' lives are always more important than his own.]]
* {{Transhuman}}: Is described as being transhuman following his Extremis and Bleeding Edge upgrades, which turn him into a cyborg. [[spoiler:He [[BroughtDownToBadass lost the ability to use the former thanks to a Skrull computer virus and purged the latter from his body]] during one of his {{Ten Minute Retirement}}s.]]
* TrueCompanions: Of all the ties formed in the Avengers' long history, none match those between ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, Iron Man, and Thor. The team is always at its strongest when these three are in it, and any two of them would lay down their lives for the third without hesitation. This is what made the Cap/Iron Man conflict in ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'' so devastating; one has to wonder if it might have been averted if Thor hadn't been dead at the time. The adverts for ''Avengers Prime'' put it best: Many have answered the call, but three have always stood above the rest.
** It's also why Thor is ''[[https://imgur.com/gallery/EtDwU so pissed]]'' at Tony when he finally does return. A man he considered at least as close as a brother not only turned on people they both called allies (especially Cap), but then ''cloned Thor without permission''. I doubt any of Loki's many betrayals hurt Thor as much as that did.
*** To be honest, it probably hurt Thor so much because it reminded him ''exactly'' of Loki's many betrayals.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: His actions often tend to do this with Captain America. Sooner or later they tend to patch things up, but it always makes things tense and awkward in the meantime.
** During ''Armor Wars'', Tony nearly kills a Guardsman and causes a super-villain prison break, then sucker-punches Steve in the process. The two remain on poor terms up until after ''Operation: Galactic Storm''.
** ''Civil War'' ruins it again. Even after Steve's resurrection, the two fratch with one another until a fight with Hel allows them to start moving on.
** And ''again'' during Jonathan Hickman's ''Avengers'' run, thanks to Tony having Doctor Strange wipe Steven's mind, culminating in Steve dedicating S.H.I.E.L.D. to hunt Tony down so he can beat him to death. The cosmic wibblyness of ''Secret Wars'' seems to have undone that.
* WideEyedIdealist: An oddly specific version from a usually cynical person. In flashbacks in the ''Illuminati'' one-shot, Tony expresses the thought that if all the heroes on Earth got together under one banner, they'd face less FantasticRacism. Namor and Professor X reply that in all likelihood, the ''opposite'' would happen.
* WorthIt: Innocuously revealed his secret identity to save the life of a little boy and his dog. And in spite of all the trouble having it known has brought him, he's never regretted it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Teen Tony]]
!!Anthony Stark (Earth-96020)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/teen_tony.jpg]]
!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Avengers: Timeslide'' (1995)

A younger Tony Stark from an alternate universe, brought in by the Avengers to try and help fight Tony when he went insane during ''The Crossing''. In the process, this Tony received injuries to his heart, but tried to fill the void of his counterpart, before sacrificing his life along with the other Avengers to defeat Onslaught.
----

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Her original appearance as a PluckyOfficeGirl was based on a young Creator/AnnBDavis, specifically because Davis played a similar character (Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz) on ''The Bob Cummings Show''.

* JerkassWoobie: He's an arrogant, smarmy, womanizing jackass; but his life has been one long TraumaCongaLine, and due to his awareness of his flaws, he's a deep, dark pit of TheAtoner bordering on DeathSeeker, to the point where [[MoreExpendableThanYou he feels that all his teammates' lives are always more important than his own.]]

Later as part of ComicBook/MarvelAFreshStart, Riri returned in a new [[ComicBook/{{Ironheart}} ongoing solo]], written by Creator/EveEwing and illustrated by Kevin Libranda. It lasted for twelve issues. She also joined the teenage superhero team the ComicBook/{{Champions|2016}}.

* DatingCatwoman: Unsurprisingly, Tony's lecherous habits don't stop at civilians and allies. He still has a history with villain Madame Masque.

* GrandfatherClause: Tony Stark is one of the few mainstream superheroes (along with ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/GreenArrow) who can still play the HonestCorporateExecutive trope ''somewhat'' straight, even after [[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/28/americans-views-about-billionaires-have-grown-somewhat-more-negative-since-2020/ public opinions about billionaires in the real world]] have shifted negatively, largely because that trope was the whole ''raison d'être'' for Iron Man in the first place.

* HowardHughesHomage: Billionaire-playboy-engineer-superhero [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]]. He even designed for the military -- munitions instead of planes -- and went through a major struggle with a debilitating psychological problem, although in Tony's case it was alcoholism, not OCD. In his early comics appearances, he even had the mustache. Due to ComicBookTime, these days his father -- actually named Howard -- is portrayed as even more of one.

* RedOniBlueOni: Plays with this trope with Captain America. They wear the respective colors of a Blue and Red Oni, and seem to fit those roles accordingly, with Cap being the responsible, upright leader of the Avengers and symbol of all that is good in his country, and Iron Man being a billionaire playboy who often struggles with alcoholism and his own neurosis. However, when the situation calls for it Cap is more than willing to take a stand and do what he feels is morally right, even if it means breaking the law and and defying the government, and is guided more by his emotions, while Iron Man tends to be more pragmatic and logical in his decisions and philosophy, and will go to any lengths to protect the world, even if goes into KnightTemplar territory.

After the war, [[MillionairePlayboy playboy billionaire industrialist]] Tony Stark, [[SecretIdentity who secretly was Iron Man all along]], thanks Rhodes for saving Iron Man and offers him a job as Stark's personal pilot. Rhodes initially declines, but after trying other career options, including being a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary]], he eventually takes Tony up on the offer. He also becomes the chief aviation officer.

* SilkHidingSteel: She is a polite, benevolent, elegantly dressed business woman cum art curator. She's also the only person who can wrangle the self-proclaimed [[MemeticMutation genius billionaire playboy philantropist]] superhero.

* DeathSeeker: Tony, to a [[TheWoobie horribly painful degree]]. And, no, it didn't start during/after Comicbook/CivilWar2006, either, though that certainly made it worse. It started when he was struck with [[SurvivorGuilt survivor's guilt]] over the [[MyGreatestFailure death of Yin Sen]] -- that's right, it started with his ''origin story'' -- and just kind of [[FromBadToWorse went downhill]] at breakneck speed from there.

* GrandfatherClause: Tony Stark is one of the few mainstream superheroes (along with Franchise/{{Batman}} and Franchise/GreenArrow) who can still play the HonestCorporateExecutive trope ''somewhat'' straight, even after [[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/28/americans-views-about-billionaires-have-grown-somewhat-more-negative-since-2020/ public opinions about billionaires in the real world]] have shifted negatively, largely because that trope was the whole ''raison d'être'' for Iron Man in the first place.

When Pepper is caught in a terrorist explosion caused by Ezekiel Stane, she sustains multiple internal injuries, including shrapnel wounds, and rendered unable to withstand a prolonged surgery. In response, Tony embeds a strong magnet (similar in appearance to the arc reactor) in her chest, essentially turning Pepper into a {{cyborg}} dependent on keeping her chest magnet engaged to stay alive, as he was once. She eventually gains a suit of armor (and a heart implant) of her own as the heroine Rescue. Pepper's body is further enhanced with new cybernetics and upgrades to the magnet, which are based on [[Comicbook/IronFist Danny Rand]]'s battery designs, and give Pepper new super abilities.

Tony's adoptive brother (Tony was the adopted one), his existence, backstory and the reason for the secrecy about him was revealed in ''The Secret Origin of Tony Stark''. What can be said is that he's been confined to an iron lung for most of his life and is as smart as Tony, if not considerably smarter. He and Tony get on very well and work together on the Troy project. Then he starts going off the deep end.

* FusionDance: Part of Tony's resurrection after ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' was [[Franchise/FantasticFour Franklin Richards]] recreating the heroes closer to what he remembered and [[http://www.cbr.com/abandoned-love-the-titanic-tale-of-teen-tony-stark-aka-iron-teen/ in Tony's case]], resurrecting him and fusing him with Teen Tony.

** It's started to leak back ever since "The Secret Origin of Tony Stark", and the revelation of the Godkiller Armor. Ever since, Tony's been building his own suits patterned after the Celestial-slaying superweapon, either conciously or not.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: After ''Armor Wars'', then ''Civil War'' and ''Secret Invasion'', in some comics he became known as the man whose leadership led to the death of Captain America and allowed the Skrull Empire to nearly conquer the Earth. And during ''World War Hulk'' a lot of Hulk supporters hate him because of the whole "shot Hulk into space" thing.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Pepper Potts, Black Widow and Bethany Cabe.