10 Smartest Comic Book Villains

5. Doctor Doom (Marvel Comics)

Doctor Doom is something of a rarity in comics - because he's mastered the arts of both science/technology and magic. As a result, his arsenal is incredible. He wears a high-tech armoured suit than is full of advanced gadgets and which can also cast powerful magic spells with a single thought.

Doom€™s preparation skills have allowed him to do things that only Reed Richards and a couple of upcoming entries on this list can match or surpass, as far as humans are concerned in comic books and, in some cases, these are things that affect the environment and the living beings in Marvel comics on a universal level.

His intelligence has given him the ability to draw off the power from heroes as powerful as the Silver Surfer and abstract cosmic entities as powerful as the godlike Beyonder and the planet-devouring Galactus in order to wield it for himself. As a matter of fact, Doom has actually achieved universal power through his planning and gone on to give it up willingly because he became bored of it.

The armour Doom wears exemplifies exactly what he is capable of creating thanks to his genius. It is durable enough to withstand hits from super-strong heroes like the Hulk, Sentry, Thor and Ben Grimm and it allows him to to survive in the Beyonder€™s realm €“ a harsh environment that knocked Galactus out for a longer period of time than Doom was knocked out for thanks to his armour's forcefield.

His mystical knowledge enables him to prepare spells such as the formidable Crimson Bands of Cyttorak €“ a spell which entraps the target in magical restraints that are powerful enough to hold the likes of Hulk and Iron Man indefinitely. Indeed, such is Doom's genius that he has, in recent years, built in an auto-cast facility in to his armour that allows him to use spells without him even having to speak.

He has also created an army of Doombots that are fairly formidable fighters in their own right - and they are almost impossible to differentiate from the real Doctor Doom, even when scanned and investigated thoroughly and up-close, meaning that he can fool people when it comes to his whereabouts.

Doom is always one step ahead of his regular opponents €“ apart from Reed Richards, which is nothing to be ashamed of (although Doom himself doesn't see it that way).