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You are the last and final piece of my plan. Your terror, sucked from the very marrow of your being, will fill my Fear Fuel Reservoir, and make me the most powerful man on Earth!
Doctor Doom

Doctor Doom's Fearfall is a "Space Shot" ride that's among the several attractions in Marvel Super Hero Island at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Based around the arch-nemesis of the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, the ride's story is relatively straightforward - it involves the guests being used to power up the "Fusion Dynamo" - a device that Doom will use to eventually conquer the world.

In the queue line, it's explained through a propaganda film titled, "Latveria: Land of Enchantment", that the massive device that guests will be boarding is referred to as "The Tower of Doom", and its purpose is to generate fear out of anyone who rides it; as the "Fusion Dynamo" device is powered off of people's fear. The film elaborates on the backstory of the Tower, showing that it was initially stationed in Doom's country, Latveria, where all of the citizens were ordered to ride it. Realizing that the Fusion Dynamo needed more power, Doom had the Tower moved to the U.S., where he's now luring in unsuspecting visitors to do his bidding. Without it being explained what it actually does, the Fusion Dynamo is said to be the ultimate superweapon; and when fully powered up, Doom will use it exact his revenge on the Fantastic Four as well as exterminate anyone else who would stand in his way.

Following the pre-show, guests then board the Tower and experience Doom's invention for themselves. The attraction ultimately ends on an ambiguous note, leaving it unsaid as to whether or not Doom succeeds in his plans with his now fully-powered Fusion Dynamo.

Along with being one of the park's opening day attractions on May 28, 1999, the ride stands as one of the most visually-recognizable elements of both Islands of Adventure and the Orlando area as a whole, due to its two industrial-looking towers reaching a whopping height of 199 feet.


Tropes shown in Doctor Doom's Fearfall include:

  • Actually a Doombot: Keeping in line with the Trope Codifier, this occurs in the tie-in comic book for the attraction. When the Human Torch outright attempts to kill Doom by burning him to death, he discovers that it was actually just a Doombot decoy.
  • All There in the Manual: As mentioned above, there's a tie-in comic book (titled Marvel Super Hero Island Adventures) that adds in some extra backstory for the ride, showing Doom attack the Fantastic Four with a small-scale test of his Fusion Dynamo, as a way of taunting the heroic quartet and hinting at what's to come for them.
  • Alternate Company Equivalent: Though it's nowhere near as elaborate as the latter, some comparisons can be drawn between this ride and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World.
  • Arc Number: The number "4" appears in the attraction a few times, and each time it's purposely designed to look like the Fantastic Four logo, highlighting just how obsessed with the team Doom is.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
    • In "The Big Picture", the narrator begins by talking about the tasks and recreational activities that Latverian citizens do; them being going to school, tending the fields, and paying homage to "The Lord of Latveria, the All-Powerful Doctor Doom".
    • In the same video, when the narrator gives examples of what items not to bring onto the ride, he first lists the obvious things, such as hats, glasses, loose shoes, and video cameras, but then also shows pictures of things such as a block of cheese, a bear trap, and a bird.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: At the end of the ride, Doom proudly announces that he has now achieved the full power for his Fusion Dynamo, though whether or not he succeeds in taking over the world with it is left up in the air.
  • Best Served Cold: It's shown that Doom has been working on his ultimate and final revenge plan on the Fantastic Four for quite some time, to the point that he has to contain himself with how badly he wants to kill the heroes and remain patient.
  • Big Applesauce: Realizing that Latveria's citizens aren't enough to power the Fusion Dynamo, Doom decides to take his Tower to the U.S., specifically New York City.
  • Black Comedy: The content of both the propaganda film and "The Big Picture" are shown in a comedic fashion, despite the horrifying reality of Doom's plan to take over the world.
  • Chalk Outline: In front of the ride's entrance, you can see several body outlines in the pavement, presumably from those that "fell from the tower". note 
  • The City Narrows: The attraction is located in the "darker" part of Marvel Super Hero Island: a villainous alleyway that gives off a very seedy feeling.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: In the queue, Doombots warn guests that breaking any of Doom's rules will result in this.
  • Cool Chair: Doom's throne can be seen at the exit of the attraction, right above the Kingpin's Arcade area.
  • Costume Evolution: As a walk-around character, Doom's costume originally looked a little silly, but in 2011 was given an upgrade and now looks way more intimidating.
  • Crapsaccharine World: Latveria is depicted as being a incredibly miserable country, even though its citizens generally remain happy due to the amount of propaganda they're made to believe.
  • Doomsday Device: The Fusion Dynamo is implied to be this, as its destruction power is said to be enormous and can wipe out all of Doom's enemies.
  • Doomy Dooms of Doom:
    • The invention that extracts the fear from people is referred to as, "The Tower of Doom".
    • Likewise, the company that was said to have created the towers is called, "Doomcorp".
    • The alley the attraction is located in is called "Doom Alley".
  • Dramatic Thunder: Occurs several times in the queue video, usually after Doom makes a big declaration.
  • Easter Egg: Outside the ride's entrance, there's a small, yellow-colored speaker that has a button on it. Push it a few times, and you'll hear random radio transmissions sent by several superheroes. The transmissions consist of Captain America and Thor attempting to assemble the Avengers in order to defeat Carnage, Professor X warning Wolverine not to let his emotions get out of control, Iron Man stating that he cannot fight Magneto with his suit at low-power, and Daredevil and Elektra reuniting after she had initially been killed.
  • Emotion Eater: Doctor Doom's Fusion Dynamo device is powered off people's fear when they ride the Tower of Doom.
  • Evil Duo: Not in the ride itself, but as a walk-around character, Doom occasionally tag-teams with the Green Goblin (who's way more manic than he is) while messing around with guests.
  • Evil, Inc.: The company that created Doom's inventions, "Doomcorp.", is obviously this due to being run by Doom himself and being connected to Latveria.
  • Evil Is Petty: In the early years of the park, Doom used to parade around outside the attraction and shoot guests with his own special water gun. Just because. You can still find Doom wandering around the area at times, but he doesn't spray people with water anymore.
  • Evil Overlooker: In a non-poster instance, the sign for the attraction has Doom's head overlooking both the guests and the surrounding area.
  • Evil Plan: Doom's plan is to harness the power of people's fear and use it for his "Fusion Dynamo" device, which he'll use to destroy the Fantastic Four once and for all.
  • Evil Tower of Ominousness: The attraction is made up of two very industrial-looking towers that stand at 199 feet tall.
  • Flapping Cheeks: In "The Big Picture", when Leopold is shown riding the Tower of Doom, the force of him dropping down causes this to happen.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: A rare non-video game variant. Doom's tyranny is evident throughout the queue, as the guests are threatened with torture and/or execution if they don't follow Doom's rules or even attempt to leave. Obviously, nothing of the sort is ever going to happen, and the guests are never in any real danger.
  • Happiness Is Mandatory: When the queue video mentions how Doom will bring peace to the Latverian people, a clip is shown of several Latverian citizen looking miserable, only to begin cheering after they get zapped by a Doombot.
  • Herr Doktor: Dr. Heind Redken, one of Doom's subordinates and inventor of the Tower of Doom, is depicted with a German-like accent.
  • I'm Melting!: At end of "The Big Picture", Leopold melts into a pile of green goo after experiencing the tower. He is later shown to still be alive when his head rises out of the goo and winks at the audience.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite how helpful Heind Redken was in the creation of the Tower of Doom, he winds up getting used by Doom as the first test subject of the Tower. The fear extraction is successful, but he is killed in the process.
  • Leitmotif: Throughout the attraction, particularly when Doom shows up in the queue videos, music that sounds quite similar to the Imperial March is played.
  • Loves the Sound of Screaming: In this case, Doom really loves it, for it's what powers his Fusion Dynamo.
  • Lured into a Trap: From the story perspective, the guests are lured into Doom's secret facility with the promise of an exciting ride, only to soon after be told of the tower's real purpose: a way of gaining fuel for Doom's devastating device.
  • Neon Sign Hideout: The attraction is marked with a massive sign that's almost as big as some of the buildings in the area. The sign, of course, has the ride's title in also-big letters.
  • Never Trust a Title: Despite being titled "Fearfall", the actual drop parts of the ride are very mild, it's the shooting upwards bit that's more intense.
  • No OSHA Compliance: Safety on The Tower of Doom is not guaranteed, as it's shown through videos that it has killed people note . Doom does not mind anyone dying on his invention, so long as he gets the Fear Fuel he needs.
  • "No Talking or Phones" Warning: "The Big Picture" is used to explain ride boarding procedures in the form of a cartoon PSA. It follows the perspective of a Latverian citizen simply known as Leopold, as he readies to prove his loyalty to Doom by riding the tower, but not without making a few mistakes along the way.
  • Plot Hole: The whole idea of Doom taking the Tower of Doom to New York would fall apart almost instantly, considering that the two obviously-evil towers suddenly appearing over the Manhattan skyline would immediately alert all superheroes in the area to its presence and make them want to investigate.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: Subverted. A lot of safety precautions are put into place because Doom needs fear to power his machine, and dead bodies do nothing for him. However, once the ride begins, he happily disables all safety proceduresnote ; he can extract fear fuel from the guests in their final moments, and thus doesn't care if they survive or not.
  • Propaganda Piece: invoked "Latveria: Land of Enchantment", portrays Doom as a glorious leader who's attempts at making the world a better place are always being foiled by the Fantastic Four.
  • Pun-Based Title: "Fearfall" is a pun of "freefall".
  • Purple Is Powerful: The Doombots here sport purple-colored armor, with only a little bit of metallic grey underneath.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: All of the Doombots in attraction are shown as having glowing red eyes.
  • Shout-Out: There's several references to various Marvel characters in the area surrounding the ride's entrance, such as a bust of Venom and a sign advertising "Blaze and Ketch Mechanics". note 
  • Shoot the Builder: Heind Redken, who was one of the main people in charge of the Tower's construction, is killed when he is forced into being the first test subject for it.
  • Sickly Green Glow: At nighttime, the huge entrance sign for the ride gains a green aura around it.
  • Take Over the World: Doom mentions that once he has defeated all who stand in his way, he will in time assume his place as Supreme Ruler of the world.
  • Trapped in Villainy: The guests are forced to help fuel the Fusion Dynamo, not being allowed to leave until they do so and threatened with harsh consequences if they refuse note .
  • Villain Protagonist: Doctor Doom is the main character of the ride, with the Fantastic Four receiving only mere mentions.
  • Villainous Breakdown: When Doom tests the Fusion Dynamo and realizes that it doesn't have enough power yet, he reacts in violent rage while cursing all of the Fantastic Four.
  • War Is Hell: It is shown that Latveria was once a "beautiful land" that was later ripped apart by poverty and oppression as a result of many wars.
  • Water Guns and Balloons: As said earlier, Doom used to spray passing people with water while parading through Marvel Super Hero Island.
  • Waving Signs Around: In the event that the ride is closed, several "Latverian citizens" will stand outside the attraction and protest against superheroes, holding up picket signs that say things like "Superheroes OUT of Latveria".
  • Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: At one point in the propaganda film, the narrator mentions that before going into Doom's invention, Latverian citizens remove "any articles that Doom commandeth".


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