Iron Man's armor

Mark I grey armor.

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)

Stark's grey armor was the first Iron Man armor he made; it was built around an iron chest plate designed to prevent the piece of shrapnel he received in Vietnam from travelling to his heart and killing him. The armor, made from ordinary iron, provided protection from physical attacks, small arms, extreme temperatures, some forms of energy, and acid. Powered by flat linear armature rechargeable DC motors, the exoskeleton boosted the strength of the wearer by about 10 times, and employed motion-sensing negative feedback to control movement. Air pressure jets allowed for extended jumps and removable suction cups allowed the wearer to cling to walls and ceilings. Weaponry included a chest-mounted monobeam (proton beam generator), a miniature hacksaw, and magnetic turbo-insulators that allowed Stark to magnetically deflect metal projectiles or bring metal objects to him. Sensors consisted of a short-wave radio. All of the armor's devices and functions were manually controlled by the wearer. Stark used it to escape terrorists in Vietnam who were holding him hostage. He constructed at least one updated, form-fitting (although still rigid) version upon his return to the United States.[5]

Iron Man debuts his new golden armor as he battles the caveman-like villain Gargantus. From Tales of Suspense #40 (1963). Cover art by Jack Kirby

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #40 (April 1963)

In order to make this armor less frightening to the general public, Stark created a gold-colored version with a wide array of improvements over the original.[6] The new armor used the three dimensional, collapsible micro-structure now common in Stark's suits, so that it could be folded up and stored in his briefcase while inactive. The chest-plate was streamlined so that it could be worn under normal clothing without being noticeable. The suit had a semi-rigid interior with 3D knitted metallic exterior of a lightweight iron alloy, providing the same protection as his old suit did. This was also the first suit to be equipped with a force field generator. Power was still provided by flat linear armature DC motors, rechargeable by solar power as well as electrical outlets, and motion sensing was still provided by negative feedback. The Mk II air pressure boot-jets provided limited flight; steering while flying was accomplished by bodily movement. Weaponry consisted of the chest-mounted Mk II Monobeam, a sledgehammer, hacksaws extending from the fingertips, hand drills, electromagnets allowing Iron Man to pull things to him and push them away, and an electrical field generator. Communications and sensor arrays consisted of a loudspeaker, short-wave two-way radio, radar, and a tape recorder. When one iteration of this particular armor was partially destroyed by the Melter, a super-villain who could dissolve iron, Stark built an exact copy using aluminium instead of iron, which was unaffected by the Melter's abilities.

The MK III armor. Art by Steve Ditko.

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #48 (December 1963)

Stark's trademark red and gold armor arose from a battle with a villain named Mr. Doll, who could control the gold armor through a replica figurine. To circumvent the villain's ability, Stark withdrew and constructed a new suit with a significantly different look and a lighter build- thus allowing him to devote less of his own strength to moving the armor and more to fighting Mr. Doll's influence, resulting in the streamlined red and gold suit.

The red and gold armor was composed of an ultra-fine 3-D knit alloy and incorporated motors into the knitting to allow full mobility. The armor also included a stealth mode. While it ran on the same type of power, the power consumption was much more efficient. The boot jets were upgraded to chemically fueled thrusters, which provided a much faster flight speed. Weaponry consisted of the chest-mounted Mk II Monobeam (useful range was still only several yards), repulsor rays, a proton gun, and powerful electromagnets to pull metal objects to him or repel/push them away. Communications and sensors consisted of a short-wave radio. Other features included an image reproducer and collapsible roller skates. Most functions were controlled by miniature electronic switches mounted on the insides of various pieces of the armor such as the helmet and the gloves; by pressing various combinations of them, different systems were engaged. The switches in the helmet were enabled by the wearer's tongue; other functions were enabled by wrist-mounted controls.

Beyond these features, Stark also occasionally experimented with cosmetic modifications such as adding a nose indentation on his faceplate, or rimming the face-plate with rivets.

While the appearance of the armor changed only slightly, over the years its technology improved by leaps and bounds, resulting in vastly increased strength, speed, and firepower. Control of the armor was slowly shifted from motion feedback and internal buttons to cybernetic controls, which could sense and interpret the wearer's own brainwaves and respond accordingly. The pacemaker function of the chestplate was also eventually abandoned, as Stark's heart was repaired using artificial tissue.

The 2007 retcon miniseries Iron Man: Hypervelocity hinted that Stark based the new cosmetic improvement on a childhood fantasy, as the red and gold color scheme came from his elementary school's colors, and the whole "Iron Man" motif from the eponymous song by Black Sabbath.[7]

The 3.8 version of the Mark III armor, which appeared in a 2010 storyline, included a self-repair kit hidden inside the pauldron-like portion of the armor covering the top of the right shoulder, which was protected with a fingerprint scanner.[8]

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #85 (April 1976)

Armor structure was improved with 3D knitting. In addition, a force-field helped keep the armor rigid. The armor used solar power and integrated micro-circuitry. A thermocouple was used to handle extreme temperature and convert it to usable power, but it could be overloaded. Repulsors were standard weaponry. The variobeam/uni-beam was capable of various effects. A tractor beam could be used to pull or throw objects. The most recent version of the armor was able to use pulse bolts. Gyro-stabilizers were used in the boot jets. Power pods were capable of various functions such as boosting other systems or being set to detonate. ECM jamming was used to evade detection. A hologram emitter created multiple images to make the armor harder to target. In addition to the sonic emitter, a voice distorter helped protect Stark's identity and could also be used to duplicate sounds. The armor could travel underground. Freon could be emitted and a built-in fire extinguisher handled internal and external fire. Finger lasers and a "sabresaw" were available for cutting through objects. Life support was improved; the pacemaker was no longer needed after successful heart surgery. A slave circuit was added to control older suits after the incident with Weasel Willis. This was a weakness when Midas attempted to gain control of the armors. Sensors were upgraded with a full-band transceiver, infrared, and a 'life detector' that was keyed to several important personnel.

Although Stark subsequently developed more advanced armors, he returned to this armor when situations have forced him to discard his latest armors due to serious damage and lack of time, resources prevented him from creating a more advanced replacement immediately. Examples of this include a 2000 story in which he was forced to destroy his sentient armor and feared designing a more advanced suit in case he repeated the accident that give his previous armor sentience;[9] when Stark fled Norman Osborn and H.A.M.M.E.R. during the 2009 "World's Most Wanted" storyline;[10] and when Stark and the Avengers confronted Osborn during his invasion of the then-earthbound Asgard during the 2010 "Siege" storyline,[11] which writer Brian Michael Bendis revealed in the follow-up miniseries Avengers Prime was the Mark 3.8 armor.[8]

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #142 (January 1981)

While based on the same design principles, this suit's matrix was formed non-collapsible to increase its protection from the rigors of deep space; also, its specialized nature made collapsibility unnecessary. Power was provided by a Mk IV micro-nuclear supply pack, supplemented by solar power converters. Systems were controlled via a cybernetic interface, though it proved to be overly sensitive; when Stark first used the armor he had difficulty triggering the appropriate command to activate the feature he wanted. The suit was designed for extended time outside of the atmosphere, up to two days in orbit (food and catheterization capable). The life support, boot jets and altitude maneuvering were powered by an on-board supply of liquid oxygen. Weaponry consisted of palm-mounted third-generation repulsors (electron beams which require laser ionized path of air to travel through the atmosphere; the beam is moderated using a pulsing beam and early form of adaptive optics; objects are jolted away from the beam path by the combination of ionized air and the accelerated neutron beam) and a chest-mounted Unibeam (a variable intensity light source usable as a spotlight or a laser; the pentagonal shape of the emitter allowed for more accurate laser pulsing while in an atmosphere), and epaulet-mounted concussion-burst cannons. Sensors consisted of radar, sonar, infrared scanners, and radio. Additional features included ECM against radar and sonar, and the fully articulated hands could be fired out on retractable cables for use as long-range grapples. The most obvious feature on this special armor was its ability to attain escape velocity without aid of an external thrustier, unique to this Iron Man version; however, the nuclear jets which allowed this made the suit bulky, heavy and awkward in Earth's gravity. The dangers inherent in an atomic-energy based propulsion system of such immense power seem to have driven Stark to build the thruster unit which he has been using ever since.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #152 (November 1981)

The Stealth armor is another of the specialized suits of armor developed by Stark for specific missions, similar to the Space Armor; indeed, its creation was inspired due to him being tracked by radar during his use of the Space Armor. The Stealth Armor was designed using current "stealth" technology to allow Iron Man to foil detection devices and slip unknown in and out of restricted areas. This sleek, jet black suit (composed of impact resistant carbon-composites overlaid on top of layered "flex-metal" which can condense itself like a 3-dimensional accordion pleat) was a polarized metal mesh armor that uses every bit of space for detection and evasion components, and therefore was originally designed with no weapons. A bubble-shaped "backpack" was also incorporated into the armor to expand the space available for the stealth systems. Most of this armor used solar power to charge the batteries and run most of the integrated circuitry, though the pods on the sides were batteries that could maintain the suit's functions for a short time. It was able to recharge itself from electrical sources, a thermocouple to siphon power from extreme heat or cold, and solar power. The suit used force field technology to render Iron Man electronically invisible- a layer of low density plasma would be held in place by a focused magnetic field, and the tripole waveform reflected radar, along with a wave modifier that bent the radar around it. To quash any detectable infrared signature, the armor's boot-jet exhaust was "washed" by bursts of super-cooled air. The micro-turbines on his jet boots possess assisted air liquification devices; rings of liquid nitrogen.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #191 (February 1985)

After climbing back out of the gutter where he had landed after Obadiah Stane's psychological attack had devastated him, Stark started to construct a very basic armor out of spare parts he asked as payment from the companies he advised. More symbolic than anything, this armor had a strong resemblance to the very first, gray armor. While far more advanced than most earlier armors, it was inferior to the regular model James Rhodes was using at the time. It was eventually and unceremoniously destroyed by one of Stane's mechanical pawns. Nevertheless, it served to channel Stark's emotional distress into creative paths and paved the way for the armor that came next.

Silver Centurion armor

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #200 (November 1985)

Stark began creating the Silver Centurion armor as a method of working out ideas and experimenting. The S-circuit, which uses its energy more efficiently, is an example of the breakthrough developed by Stark, using the armor as a model. With the destruction of Circuits Maximus by Obadiah Stane, Stark donned the newest set of armor to battle the foe that stripped him of his business, his friends, and almost his life. The battle with Stane was the first field test of this armor, and resulted in the defeat of Stane and the destruction of Stane International.[12]

The suit had a rigid interior and a 3-D knitted metallic exterior, providing protection from physical attacks as well as acid, heat, cold, most forms of energy, radiation, and electricity. A 3-D knitting pattern on a submolecular construction level gave the armor itself more strength, while allowing for the most comfortable suit interior. By expanding the field that keeps the armor rigid, the armor could encase itself in a protective force field that was effective against most forms of attack; Stark could also use this field to polarize the armor to either attract or repulse other items via magnetic polarity.

Most of this armor used solar power to charge the batteries and run most of the integrated circuitry, though the pods on the sides were batteries that could maintain the suit's functions for a short time. It was also able to recharge itself from electrical sources, a thermocouple to siphon power from extreme heat or cold. Flight was accomplished via Mk IV boot-jets (which incorporated high-speed duo-source turbines), supplemented by a booster pack that enabled the armor to attain speeds up to 750 mph (1,210 km/h) in the air and 180 mph (290 km/h) in the water.

Weaponry consisted of a chest-mounted Mk III Unibeam (search light, heat beams, tractor beam, laser beam, and ultraviolet light beam), palm-mounted Mk III Repulsors (laser-guided particle beam emitters), pulse bolts (slow-moving high energy plasma discharge "torpedoes" that build in intensity as they travel through the atmosphere, picking up static and ambient energy and thus doing more damage the farther they travel), and a sonic emitter (generating high-frequency sound waves).

Sensors consisted of a full band audiovisual transceiver simultaneous images of the armor. It could also be used to generate a "chameleon field" around itself; the computer in the armor would analyze its surroundings and generate a hologram to make it blend in with the surroundings making it effectively invisible visually and to cameras. The "chameleon effect" ultimately was shown to damage Stark's nervous system, and as such was removed from the armor.[13]

The Silver Centurion armor- or a copy of it, given that the original was destroyed towards the conclusion of the "Armor Wars", was used by Stark to defeat the Mandarin, when his Extremis abilities were temporarily deactivated due to concerns regarding his mental health.

Though this armor debuted before the return to the title of creative team of David Micheline and Bob Layton, the latter revealed in 1996 that he designed the Silver Centurion.[14] He wrote: "Mark Gruenwald and associates came to me and asked me to come up with a "Samurai-type armor" for the series. Gruenie was a big believer in overhauling the Armored Avenger on a regular basis." Layton also revealed the original color scheme for the armor was red and black. He does not know who changed the original black color to silver.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #218 (May 1987)

This unit was designed for salvage missions at the bottom of the deepest oceans—while Stark's conventional suits function underwater, they were noisy, inefficient, and they leaked. The exact composition is unknown; it is assumed to be composed of the same layered "flex-metal" micro-scale suit tiles fabricated by genetically engineered metal-affinity bacteria which assemble themselves in specific orderly arrays and then expire, leaving behind various metallic deposits which form all the metal shapes and micro-electronic circuits. A new aligned-crystal production process allowed the construction of a large, semi-spherical headpiece, as transparent as glass. This unit possessed several ocean-specific weapons, such as the electric field of an electric eel, a camouflage 'ink cloud' and small 'manta ray' torpedoes. It also comprised an inner "Escape Suit" that could be jettisoned from the main suit in case of emergency (this inner suit possessed a Unibeam, 2 torpedoes, and the holding bay). Functions were controlled by cybernetic interface..This is a very interesting addition to the Iron Man arsenal of suits.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #229 (April 1988)

This armor was nearly identical to the Mk I Stealth Armor, with two additional features. The first was a camouflage effect, similar to the chameleon effect generated by the Silver Centurion armor. This suit's camouflage effect was entirely manually controlled, providing the wearer with invisibility to visual or camera detection, but only against backgrounds that are mostly of one color. The second addition were palm-mounted Mk IV Repulsors, though they only had enough energy to fire three shots at full power. The stealth systems were far more streamlined, allowing for the elimination of the "backpack" on the first model.[15]

This suit was used by Clay Wilson to fill in for the "real" Iron Man after Stark had been shot.[5]

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #231 (June 1988)

During the Armor Wars, Iron Man found himself facing the government-sanctioned armored assassin Firepower. Against this walking, flying armored arsenal, even the Silver Centurion armor did not stand a chance, and it was destroyed. Reluctant to enter the fray again, but forced into action, Stark designed a new suit, even more powerful and versatile than its predecessor, designed specifically to negate Firepower's original advantages, such as a means of disrupting Firepower's targeting systems, a gauntlet-generated energy shield, and more powerful boosters for increased speed. It made short work of Firepower, and Stark was so horrified of the destructive potential of the armor should it fall into the wrong hands, he resolved to destroy it. After the confrontation with Firepower, he changed his mind, encoding all subsequent armors with a series of complex microchips that would self-destruct if duplication was attempted by anyone else without specific passcodes known only to Stark. This armor resembled the classic armor which had endured for many years, with some minor cosmetic changes. Its appearance changed somewhat, mainly becoming more bulky, ostensibly to increase thruster power (its massive boot-jets earning it the some-time nickname "coffeepot armor"). It was also the first armor to incorporate a beta-particle generator, radically reducing Iron Man's external power needs and boosting his offensive power.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #280 (May 1992)

Critically wounded by a bullet near his spine, Stark was paralyzed from the waist down. After some soul-searching, he designed an armor which would enable him to walk. While his paralysis was ended by the implantation of an organic microchip, this proved only the start of his problems, as the biochip was revealed to be a parasitic life form, designed to consume his own nervous system and replace it with one that could be controlled from the outside. He needed the support armor even more to protect himself from the people who controlled his body, since his armor cybernetically responded to his own brain. The cybernetic interface and battle computer were integrated with the Telepresence Neural Net, a more subtle armor he used to simulate his degenerating nervous system. While it was still worn as a suit of armor, the functions and muscle control were carried out by the suit, not by the wearer. It has the same powers as other armours and increased speed of running.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #281 (June 1992)

Officially known as the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit, this armor was created initially by Stark to deal with the Masters of Silence threat by using a "respond in kind" philosophy and strategy. It was designed for all-out warfare and was Stark's experiment with laser guided munitions and ballistic weaponry. Since the Masters of Silence were protected against Iron Man's usual weaponry of repulsors and unibeam, those weapons were removed from the Mark I model. The armor included several response devices such as a shoulder mounted electric minigun, shoulder mounted missile box launcher, and wrist mounted gauntlet cannons with additional weaponry such as a laser blade and flamethrower. It was not collapsible, and included far heavier carbon-composite-based armor as well as improved tactical computer systems and automatic targeting. A later version, Mark II Model JRXL-1000, was designed and built for James Rhodes, which became a full-fledged superhero identity for him as War Machine. In Mark I model, both the double-barreled cannon and the plasma blade were fixed with the flamethrower built over the plasma blade casing. In Rhodes' Mark II model, the wrist weapons became modular and the armor also included repulsor and unibeam technology. In both iterations, the shoulder mounted weapons are modular and can be removed and replaced. All further incarnations of the armor were used by Rhodes.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #290 (March 1993)

Though similar in design to both the Neo-Classic armor and its remote-controlled counterpart, the NTU-150 incorporated the new SE Telepresence technology, enabling the unit to be operated under full Virtual Control. This unit was not a wearable suit of armor; rather, it was a fully articulated device controlled by the mental impulses of the user via a remote headset apparatus. The remote headset transmitted commands to the active unit in much the same way as the human brain transmits commands to the central nervous system (in this case, it is via a subspace radio connection, lessening reaction time to almost zero). Similarly, the visual, aural, and (to a lesser degree) tactile information collected by the NTU-150 could be interpreted by the user's brain in the same way as normal sensory data. The primary difference is that the sensory data collected by the NTU-150 includes a full range of electromagnetic spectra and computer-processed data normally unavailable to humans, while the active devices contained in the unit includes not only analogues to the human body, but weaponry, data collection and processing hardware as well, all under autonomic and voluntary nervous system control. In contrast to traditional robotic devices, the NTU-150 contains no mechanical framework to mimic the action of the human body; the unit's outer shell is articulated by a multiprocessor-controlled structural integrity field which allows for a much greater range of movement.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #300 (January 1994)

This unit is a drastic departure from all of the previous armors. Instead of a single cohesive unit, each piece of the armor is a stand-alone subsystem that can be interchanged at will. As such, while the overall unit is still referred to as the Mark 11, the actual configuration at any given time will vary. The shell was composed of layered "flex-metal" which could condense itself like a 3-dimensional accordion pleat. Micro-scale suit tiles were fabricated by genetically-engineered, metal-affinity bacteria, which assembled themselves in specific orderly arrays and then expired, leaving behind various metallic deposits which form all the metal shapes and micro-electronic circuits.Weaponry consisting of repulsors, Unibeam, wristed mounted protongun, shoulder missiles(which acts according to Tony), laser blades.

The Modular Armor is the main armor in the Iron Man animated TV series and Capcom's Marvel vs. Capcom video game series.

Hulkbuster Armor (Modular Add-On)

First Appearance: Iron Man Vol.1 #304 (May 1994)

The Hulkbuster armor is a heavy-duty, exo-frame (an add-on to the Mk. XI Modular Armor) designed for maximum-strength amplification at the cost of reduced versatility and mobility. As its name suggests, it was specifically designed for hand-to-hand combat with the rampaging Hulk. The armor was rated with a lift (press) capacity of 170 tons. During its maiden run, the armor enabled Stark to temporarily hold his own in sustained physical combat with the Hulk.

First (and only) Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #318 (July 1995)

Very little is known about this armor; Stark used it to travel to an Arctic bunker. It was blue and silver in color, and possessed a unique hexagonal chest beam.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #319 (August 1995)

With this armor, Stark did away with the Modular Armor and constructed a version designed specifically for combat. Its appearance was simpler, sporting rivets as its only decoration. Bulky gauntlets housed more powerful repulsors on top of the wrist instead of in the palm of the hand.[16]

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #325 (February 1996)

This armor's design history is unknown; it stands out because it, out of all the other armors in the armory, was picked by "Teen Tony", a Tony Stark who had been plucked out of an alternate time stream many years in the past to help fight his present-day self.[17]

First appearance: Iron Man #326 (March 1996)

MARK 1:

• Not a full armor, but only a chest plate to keep the young Stark's heart beating. Was soon upgraded with a pair of gauntlets.[18]

MARK 2:

• A chestplate and gauntlets, but more powerful and with superior shielding against energy attacks.[19]

MARK 3:

• Based on the Mark 2, this was the first full-body armor constructed by the young Stark from components cobbled together on a moment's notice to fight the villain Frostbite. It was geared at manipulating heat and cold.[20]

MARK 4:

• Finalized armor, like a streamlined, upgraded version of the Mark 3, with design elements of model 16. It only partly consisted of solid metal. Parts of the limbs' armor were holographic force-fields (which were visually indistinguishable from the original golden armor).[21]

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 2) #1 (November 1996)

During the Onslaught event, Stark was one of the heroes who sacrificed himself to defeat the menace, and consequently was shunted into a newly created pocket universe by reality-altering mutant Franklin Richards.[22]

In the new universe, every person had a new, but complete history- including a childhood, youth and adulthood- and no memory of their original universe. So Iron Man had to be reborn- and he was, this time not as a result of a booby trap in the Far East, but a direct encounter with the newly born Incredible Hulk. His chest pierced by shrapnel from a crashed helicopter, Stark had no choice but to do an experimental exoskeleton (Project: Prometheus Rising) which had cost the life of one of his closest friends before. He had to keep wearing the chest plate constantly to keep his shredded heart beating thereafter.[23]

The paradigm of this armor was quite different from the one Iron Man had worn for years in the baseline universe, but the arrangement of weapons, and, oddly enough, the color scheme, remained similar. Its sensors seemed somewhat more advanced. Writer Scott Lobdell confirmed in an online discussion that the secret of the Prometheum Armor was nanotechnology.[24]

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 3) #1 (February 1998)

Fresh upon his return from the "Heroes Reborn" universe, Stark constructed this armor which served as a new beginning, combining cutting-edge technology with classic lines. The armor possessed energy-absorption strips, as well as a "horned" faceplate (writer Kurt Busiek had said he liked Iron Man's helmet from early Avengers issues),[25] reminiscent of the first red-and-gold armor, and a pentagonal chest beam. Its most useful feature was a completely self-contained life support system, allowing Stark to completely cut himself off from the outside world while relying on food pills and the armor's own internal atmosphere if he was in a hostile environment, a feature that came in particularly useful when he was abducted by the Brood to participate in a contest against other heroes, the armor's internal life support allowing Stark to escape infection by the mood-altering nanites the Brood were using to keep the heroes too aggressive to consider their situation in depth long enough to develop a means of curing his allies.[26]

Stark had to eventually abandon this armor when it was discovered it, and to some degree all armors before it, negatively affected his health. The intensity of the armor's force fields and various electronics was likened to "not just living near power lines, but actually inside them."[27]

Stark temporarily returned to a variation of the "Heroes Return" armor in the aftermath of the "Secret Invasion" storyline in Iron Man (vol. 5) #10 (April 2009).

First Appearance: Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #15 (March 1999)

Experimental armor incorporating safe power systems, necessary when it became apparent the constant exposure to the powerful energy fields inside the Iron Man armor were harming Stark's health. Iron Man transported to the moon to help the Fantastic Four; however a malfunction caused a brief battle between Iron Man and the FF. Despite its rough, unfinished state, it still played a vital role in defeating Ronan, the Kree Supreme Accuser.

First appearance: Iron Man (vol. 3) #15 (April 1999)

The finished version of the previous armor, it possessed all or most of the power and functions of the 'renaissance' armor, but without the negative effects it had on the wearer's health. The added bulk of isolation and radiation baffling did mean it was too massive to be folded up and stored inside a suitcase, like previous armors, but it could transform into a more compact, flight-capable module, which could store itself in, for instance, the trunk of a car.

This armor eventually achieved sentience due to Stark downloading Jocasta into the armor, a strike from Whiplash's whip and the armor's lack of Y2K compliance.[28] This corrupted the usual failsafes Stark had installed to prevent such an occurrence happening as Jocasta unintentionally infected the armor with the 'Ultron Imperative,'[29] a system that would cause Ultron's creations to rebuild him if he was ever destroyed. Lightning strikes sustained during a fight with Whiplash providing the necessary 'nudge' to push the armor into full sentience based on Stark's own mind.

Although the armor's new tactical abilities made it far more efficient than previous armors, able to evade attacks based on past experience with opponents, its lack of human morality caused it to kill Whiplash in its 'test drive', subsequently becoming increasingly obsessed with merging with Stark so that they would become Iron Man on a permanent basis (on a more practical note, it also suffered from a power supply problem as it ran down its batteries at a far more rapid rate due to the energy required to sustain its sentience). Although it attempted to kill Stark in a final confrontation on a deserted island, when Stark suffered a heart attack, it reverted to its default programming, sacrificing its own central power source to help sustain Stark's heart. It was later salvaged by the 'Sons of Yinsen,' a cult who followed Ho Yinsen to use as a host for Yinsen's brain, only for Ultron to take control of the armor before it was destroyed for good.[29]

First Appearance: Iron Man: Bad Blood (miniseries) #4 (December 2000)

A completely new space armor design. It requires a booster rig for takeoff, and has therefore been trimmed down to reduce weight. While it offers less protection than previous models, it is also stealthier and far more maneuverable in space, using anaerobic jets for propulsion. It contains a special compression gel to protect the wearer from G-forces, and automatically seals any leaks. To accommodate re-entry, the unit possesses a massive, expanding solar sail.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 3) #42 (July 2001) (prototype); Iron Man (vol. 3) #44 (September) (finished design)

This armor's main difference from its predecessors is its sheer size; the torso and shoulders in particular are massive. Its development, starting from scratch, resulted mainly from Stark's fear that an innate factor had resulted in his previous armor developing sentience. Its appearance also differed markedly from the Sentient Armor, perhaps to make it seem as different as possible: it possessed a circular chest beam, a greatly altered overall configuration (including many "industrial-style" details such as external tubing, earning this suit the ignoble nickname "udder armor") and a restyled helmet.

The armor is powered by a Beta Particle Generator and solar power converters and controlled by a Cybernetic Interface and Battle Computer to enhance reactions when in combat. It can absorb directed energy attacks as well as massive non-directional energy discharges (like explosions). It also possesses a new force field.

The golden sections of Iron Man consisted of S.K.I.N (Synth-Kinetic Interface Nano-fluid), a liquid alloy that can be manipulated to conform to any desired shape. It is lightweight but has immense structural integrity, being harder than titanium and approaching low-grade adamantium. S.K.I.N. can be contracted to fit into a small container or stretched/shaped into another form. The alloy's wondrous properties were developed by Askew Technologies, and the exact elements incorporated into the S.K.I.N. remain unknown. Stark had set up the S.K.I.N. of his armor to be stored in a small container. On his command, the S.K.I.N. spilled out and assumed its default armor configuration.

The larger size of the armor accommodated storage of several new systems, including an improved sonic array, upgraded chameleon field, energy blade, missiles and even a number of grapefruit-sized, spherical drone units which could hover and fly autonomously, and serve as scouts or remote-controlled weapons.

Unfortunately, this design had to be abandoned after Ultron proved how easily he could make S.K.I.N. (or a human being it was bonded to) jump through hoops.

First Appearance: Black Panther (vol. 2) #44 (July 2002)

Similar to Stark's earlier Armor, the Mark III Stealth unit was also specifically designed to combat the Black Panther's anti-metal vibranium claws – it is composed entirely of advanced composite ceramics and experimental bio-neural gel-pack circuitry, fused with a kevlar-like polymer and backed by optical fiber networks; all of which comes down to an armor which was invisible to electronic detection systems as well as the naked eye, even the Black Panther's. Although the development of Stark's new cloaking technology for the Mark 25 "S.K.I.N." armor probably rendered the Mark III unit's stealth technology obsolete, the Stealth armor is nevertheless an effective weapon against opponents such as the Black Panther and Magneto because of its plastic/ceramic design.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 3) #50 (March 2002)

After the S.K.I.N. fiasco, Stark once again more or less redesigned the armor from scratch. Improved scanning included GPS and a particle mist that could be used to 'mark' targets. The armor, which went through various evolutions, had originally a generally segmented, almost insect-like appearance; later, it became heavier, more industrial, and the ultimate form of this armor (through trimmed down) made Stark sigh, "It's difficult to believe I used to be able to fit this inside a briefcase".

Carbon dioxide provides underwater propulsion; immediate satellite uplinking even from miles underwater was possible.

Repulsors were improved with a 'crowd control' setting. The armor could also release a (tentatively called) "deflector pulse", a shaped force field blasting outward from various points on the suit. Armor could also release a devastating "blockbuster" blast using uni-beam and repulsors in concert, but more potent than either.

When commanded, the armor could also adopt a hovering, non-humanoid, autonomous combat mode, equipped with energy and projectile weapons.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 3) #64 (March 2003)

In the 2003 storyline "Standoff", Iron Man and Thor come into conflict over Thor's aggression toward the military dictatorship in the nation of Slokovia, whose leader, General Stoykovicz, has slaughtered its citizens for worshipping Thor as part of his ban on pagan worship. When Stark decides to confront Thor, he wears the Thorbuster armor, which he designed some time prior to the story as a contingency plan in the event of such a confrontation. Outwardly the armor exhibits elements of Asgardian technology, resembling a hybrid of an Iron Man armor and the Asgardian weapon known as the Destroyer. The power source for the armor is an enchanted Asgardian jewel fragment originally given to Stark by Thor as a gift, in the hopes of one day being utilized as a new energy source for mankind. Because the jewel possesses the same type of enchantment that gives Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, its power, it allows the armor to absorb and re-channel the energy directed at the armor by Mjolnir.[30] During their battle, Thor neutralizes the armor by ripping off its right arm and removing the jewel fragment.[31]

First Appearance: Avengers/Thunderbolts #1 (May 2004)

Used to impersonate the Cobalt Man.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 3) #71 (October 2003)

This prototype armor possessed armor made up out of three-inch (76 mm), honeycomb-shaped tiles, piled several layers thick. Each tile was made of high-impact polymer. When one of the tiles was damaged, it popped off and the next one below it snapped into place. Furthermore, the suit used repulsor-tech force fields to position new tiles, produced in a "polymer kiln" on its back. It could also create a "storm cloud" of thousands of orbiting tiles around itself to act as "chaff". This armor was originally designed to be used in space, where micrometeoroids provided an impact-rich environment, but was ultimately used to defend against a parasitical alien life form which infected organisms and altered them to suit its needs. For optimal efficacy, the tiles were "loaded" with specialized nanobots which would turn the alien's biology against itself.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 3) #74 (November 2003)

Stark began using this armor during the time that he served as the United States Secretary of Defense. Standard weaponry including repulsors, uni-beam and sonics. Concussion blasts were used against the Hand. Zero-point energy was used against Michael Pointer (aka The Collective). Via voice command, the armor could adopt an autonomous, robotic Battle Mode. If separated by magnetism, it could reform and return to Stark. Defensively, a repulsor shield could be extended to protect the armor and allies. Security was enhanced by upgrades to anti-tampering devices.

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #72 (July 2004)

The armor is designed to attract radiation into the armor where it is converted into usable power. This greatly enhances its strength. Through absorbing ambient radiation the armor is able to decontaminate irradiated areas. It also possesses repulsors and a unibeam.

Banner's addition was "RG-27", a special compound that neutralizes gamma radiation. Since it is most effective in liquid or gas form, a series of tubes were built into the armor for irrigation. This enables the armor not only to withstand radiation, but also allows it to decontaminate areas. To expose a government conspiracy, the two faked a quarrel over some of their designs. Stark unveiled a finished version of the suit to battle the Hulk. When Stark seemed to be acting strangely while wearing the suit, a problem with the irrigation system was discovered, and The Hulk was able to help Stark shut it down before gamma poisoning set in.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 3) #83 (July 2004)

Designed to withstand high gravity environments; it was bulky, being able to survive long-term exposure to at least 50 G; the wearer had blood artificially forced to body parts which would otherwise suffer from the extreme gravity. Unfortunately, the wearer is still susceptible to nitrogen narcosis and the bends.

The Extremis Armor undersheath could be stored within Stark's bones. From Iron Man (volume 5) #1 (July 2008). Art by Salvador Larocca.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 4) #5 (March 2006)

After being critically injured during a battle with a nanotech-enhanced foe, Stark injected his nervous system with an advanced nanotech-based weapon to save his own life. This fused Stark's armor to his body, allowing him to store the inner layers of the Iron Man armor in the hollows of his bones as well as control it through direct brain impulses. The Extremis enhancement has turned Stark into a cyborg, whereby the usage of his existing lockchip (a personal area networking implement implanted in his forearm) is directly integrated into his nervous system.

Furthermore, the Extremis process endowed Stark with a "healing factor" and possibly even enhanced physical abilities. It was later stated that the Extremis enhancement speeds up a person's repair process and hence the body's cells died and regenerated at a faster rate.

In the "Iron Man: The Inevitable" storyline, it was shown that it's not only Stark's body and the interfacing undersheath that has self-healing properties. Even the Iron Man armor has the ability to self-heal and self-repair, presumably through the use of nanotechnology. The armor is also able to store power throughout its structure, indicating that instead of having main batteries mounted around the waist as in the older Iron Man armors, the Extremis armor incorporates distributed and decentralized energy storage.[32]

After the entire Stark 'dataspine', the central data processing center which governed all, or at least the pertinent portion of Stark technology, was infected with a hyper-advanced, Skrull-developed computer virus during the "Secret Invasion" storyline, Stark lost the ability to use Extremis' interface functions and consequently the armor was rendered obsolete. For the during the 2009 "World's Most Wanted" storyline, Stark used older armors, such as the "Heroes Return" and Classic Red and Gold versions.[10]

Sometime after the Extremis transformation, during an attack by the new Super-Adaptoid, Stark realized he could command several armors at once. Building on this, and realizing the world was becoming an increasingly dangerous place, he decided to construct a "team" of Iron Men—hyper-advanced drones that would be under his direct mental command, just as his own armored body. Unfortunately, the "Argonauts" were abused and destroyed before they ever could serve for good. They included:

• "Space Ghost": space-flight capable, could reach low Earth orbit under its own power; nearly impossible to detect espionage model; possibly intended as a satellite-killer.
• "Submariner": streamlined for great speed underwater; capable of using the ocean itself as a weapon, it apparently unleashed several tsunamis, and was able to overpower Namor, the Submariner, under water.
• "Adamantium Man": equipped with practically indestructible "Stark-Chobham" armor, an experimental composite of carbon nanotube-reinforced ceramics, laced with adamantium.
• "Digger": enormous drone, possibly over a hundred tons; equipped with (shielded) Antarctic Vibranium (which dissolves any metal) helmet dome and a specialized repulsor/unibeam system which allowed it to tunnel at incredible speed.
• "Hulkbuster II": also a massive drone, ostensibly designed mainly for raw power and toughness, to take on the Hulk. It proved entirely capable of taking on the Avengers. Like its predecessor, Hulkbuster II bore a distinct resemblance to Juggernaut.

While extremely powerful, the drones were useless once Stark rendered himself clinically dead.

First Appearance: Wolverine (vol. 3) #45 (August 2006)

During the "Civil War" arc of the Wolverine solo series, Wolverine borrows Stark's armor to pursue Namor, who is undersea in New Pangea. A new hydro suit is used by Wolverine which reflects the style of the Extremis generation Iron Man suit.

First Appearance: Iron Man: Hypervelocity (January 2007)

This new iteration of the armor possesses enhanced repulsors, housed not in gloves but in high-strength manipulator waldoes (giving the armor somewhat longer arms than usual); multiple-mode bootjets that can operate both with and without oxygen intake; improved structural integrity for the armor; an improved "chameleon mode" and a "supercavitation spike", projecting upward from the back, which apparently creates a sort of "bubble" so that the armor can travel underwater at near-supersonic speeds. A massive amount of electrical energy is stored in a spinning, superconductive capacitor ring on the back.

The most radical feature of this armor must be that its vastly increased computing power allows it to make a "back-up" of Stark's own mind, so that in the event of critical injury of the wearer, the armor can act as him, with all his knowledge, insight and experience. The effect is so complete that the armor, thus activated, referred to itself as "Tony 2.0".

After several hours of existence, the armor managed to develop a program that enabled it to function at "hypervelocity" - effectively thinking and moving at a much, much faster timeframe than everyone else.

Note that this story is set before "Extremis", though it was published afterwards.

First Appearance: Iron Man (vol. 1) #304 (May 1994)

In the 2007 "World War Hulk" storyline, Stark designs a new Hulkbuster armor in order to battle the Hulk, who goes on a rampage upon his return to Earth from space. He is initially able to hold his own against his foe. The new armor is built as a large exoskeletal shell which fits around his normal armor and is equipped with rocket-boosted gauntlets, capable of punching the Hulk back several miles. It is also equipped with adamantium-tipped injector needles, which Stark used in an attempt to suppress the Hulk's power with S.P.I.N. Tech nanites, though the nanites failed due to sabotage.[33][34] With the damage done by the Hulk and the entire Stark Tower collapsing on the already damaged armor, it was unable to continue functioning. It briefly re-emerged as a host body for the demon Zom, who attempted to use it to access S.H.I.E.L.D. technology and destroy New York City by shifting it into the Negative Zone; Zom was defeated by the efforts of the self-styled "Renegades" (Amadeus Cho, Hercules, Angel, and Namora), and the armor was used by Amadeus Cho as a temporary support to shore up structural damage caused in the battle.

First Appearance: The Invincible Iron Man #10 (April 2009)

In the 2008-09 "Dark Reign" storyline, Norman Osborn blames Stark and Maria Hill for the Skrull invasion in the prior "Secret Invasion" storyline. Stark and Hill become fugitives, but before Stark flees, he leaves a suit of armor for his right-hand woman and best friend, Pepper Potts.[35] The suit, which is designated Mark 1616,[36] but named Rescue by Potts,[37] represents a hybrid of repulsor technology and portable electromagnetic superfield generators that give the suit flight, speed, strength, and magnetic field manipulation.[38] Its electromagnetic forcefields are powerful to enable Rescue to stop a falling jet airliner without physical contact with it,[38] and can also be used as an offensive weapon with other armored opponents.[37] The suit's physical strength enables it to hold up a stilt mansion felled by an earthquake,[38] and to rip the lower leg of the Black armor.[39] The armor also features an artificial intelligence named J.A.R.V.I.S. that acts as a guide for Potts.[36] During the 2012 storyline "The Future", Potts and Carson Wyche come to suspect that J.A.R.V.I.S. has been compromised, and when they attempt to troubleshoot the Rescue helmet, J.A.R.V.I.S. takes control of the Rescue armor, and takes Potts and Wyche hostage.[39] J.A.R.V.I.S. is disabled by James Rhodes with a source-focused electromagnetic pulse from the Black armor,[40] and subsequently destroyed by Potts.[41]

A version of the Rescue armor is adapted into the 2019 feature film Avengers: Endgame, in which Potts, who is married to Stark, wears the armor when joining the battle in the film's climax, and fights side by side with Stark against Thanos' forces.[42]

First Appearance: The Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #18 (November 2009)

The Iron Man Mark 0 is the original armor Stark built in Afghanistan, which was improved upon his return to the United States with an onboard operating system, lenses, heating and cooling systems and rudimentary repulsor weapons. Stark used it to escape from Norman Osborn during the "World's Most Wanted" storyline, which ran concurrently with the company crossover "Dark Reign". Stark resorted to donning the Mark 0 after the brain damage he had inflicted upon himself in the course of erasing the Superhuman Registration Act database from his brain made it impossible for him to use any of his more complicated armors.[43] The mentally incapacitated Stark and the Mark 0 armor were easily defeated by Osborn, who engaged Stark while wearing the Iron Patriot armor.[44]

First appearance: The Invincible Iron Man #1 (July 2008)

This device is a rocket booster-like apparatus which is capable of recycling food and waste materials of the wearer, and can sustain the wearer for a few weeks, it can be equipped to different armors such as the Iron Man Armor Model 29 or Model 30 to allow it to be used for unusual missions, principally in space.[45][46]

First Appearance: Iron Man vs. Whiplash #2 (February 2010)

When Stark is accused of destroying the Russian city Vostok, where Anton Vanko lived, he develops an armor similar to the Mark I from the feature film in order to escape the prison where he is being held. He uses it in a fight with Vanko, who has assumed the identity of Whiplash as part of his quest for revenge. The armor is partially destroyed, but Stark escapes both prison and his enemy.[47]

First Appearance: Invincible Iron Man' #25 (June 2010)

In Invincible Iron Man #25 (2010), Stark creates a new armor in the aftermath of the "Stark: Disassembled" storyline.[48] Created by writer Matt Fraction and artist Ryan Meinerding, this new armor is sleeker in appearance, and is featured in the 2010 crossover storyline, the "Heroic Age".[49]

Iron Man in his Bleeding Edge armor. Cover art to Invincible Iron Man vol. 5, #25 (August 2010) by Salvador Larroca.

When asked if the Bleeding Edge is an upgrade to Extremis, Stark comments, "Nah—this is what comes next." As such the new armor is a part of Stark's now-posthuman biology—it is stored inside Stark's body in its entirety, "manifesting" itself when mentally commanded.[50]

The neurokinetic user-controlled morphologic nanoparticle bundles that form the suit reside in Stark's body, and form a fibrous wetweb of iron and platinum,[51] that can be commanded to form any type of structure upon Stark's skin, such as large boxing gloves,[52] or weapons, including large guns extending from his arms[51] or a lightsaber-like energy sword with which Iron Man was actually able to harm one of the Worthy during the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline.[53] The nano-machines can even mimic the appearance of clothes, and then dissociate to transform into the Iron Man armor whenever Stark wishes.[54] The suit adds less than twenty-five pounds to Stark's body mass, and can stop a howitzer shell.[51]

The armor and Stark's own transhuman body are powered by the high-yield arc reactor mounted in his chest.[50] The high output of the arc reactor has greatly augmented Stark's intelligence and provided him superhuman-level multitasking and learning capabilities. Unlike earlier armors, this new armor does not appear to rely on motors and servos for motion. Instead, the nano-machines create a secondary artificial musculature over Stark's body, upon which additional rigid structures are assembled. This also enables the armor to self-repair and be almost invulnerable, as the armor is capable of transforming and healing itself as long as the power output from the arc reactor is not interrupted or terminated; when the armor is briefly apparently destroyed in a fight with an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch, it is restored to normal after only a matter of seconds (although it remains inactive long enough to require Spider-Man to rescue Stark from plummeting to the ground).[55] In the 2012 "Ends of the Earth" storyline, Doctor Octopus is able to disable the armor using technology derived from the armor of Iron Man 2020.[56]

The suit's repulsors, which are located around the knuckles, chest, back and legs of the armor, as well as in the traditional palms, also function as cameras, or "eyeballs", which afford Stark a 360-degree panoramic view around himself.[51] Temporarily replacing the suit's primary composite—iron/platinum—with carbon nanotubes renders it immune to Magneto's powers when he and Iron Man engage in combat over Utopia during the 2012 "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline.[57]

After Stark decides to retire as Iron Man in the 2012 "Long Way Down" storyline, he undergoes a surgical procedure that expels the Bleeding Edge technology out of his body, rendering the armor inert.[58]

First appearance: Fear Itself #7 (December 2011)

During the Serpent's War, which occurs in the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, Iron Man journeys to the realm of Asgard, the home of his fellow Avenger Thor, in order to procure weapons to fight Odin's brother, The Serpent, and his generals, the Worthy, who are ravaging the Earth. In addition to the hand-held weapons he has forged for his fellow Avengers, Iron Man's armor receives an additional coating of Uru by Asgardian blacksmiths, as well as magical enchantments by Odin.[59][60][61] Iron Man refers to this manifestation of his armor as the "Iron Destroyer", for its resemblance to the Asgardian weapon, the Destroyer. Its magical enhancements disappear when Odin leaves Earth at the conclusion of the Serpent's War, and Iron Man vents the uru from the suit's molecular structure before returning the metal to Asgard, where it is melted back down with the other loaned weapons.[62]

First appearance: Avengers versus X-Men #5 (August 2012)

When the dreaded cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force is revealed to be returning to Earth, the Avengers and the X-Men fight over the fate of Hope Summers, who is expected to become its host. The Avengers believe it will destroy Earth, while the X-Men believe that it would restore the balance of life on the planet by restoring the mutant species. Stark and Henry Pym developed a massive armor to disable or destroy the Phoenix Force, but it results in the Phoenix Force splitting into five parts, each seeking out one of the X-Men.

First appearance: The Invincible Iron Man #517 (July 2012)

In the 2012 storylines "Demon" and "Long Way Down", Stark is targeted by Justine Hammer, Obadiah Stane and the Mandarin, who publicly expose the fact that Stark was using his armor while under the influence of alcohol during the previous "Fear Itself" storyline, and manipulate the government into forcing Stark to wear a monitoring device on his arc reactor that gives them the ability to shut down his access to the Iron Man armor. To get the device removed, Stark capitulates to venting the Extremis material from his body, quitting Iron Man entirely, and secretly arranges to fake James Rhodes' death, in order for Rhodes to become the new Iron Man. Rhodes' new armor is a black suit whose only visible features are glowing panels and metallic gray gauntlets and boots.[63] This suit possesses a cloaking device that turns it invisible, and can handle underwater pressures exceeding the tolerance limits of the villain Firepower.[64] It can also project freezing cold in a manner similar to the X-Man Iceman,[65] and can release a multitude of ball bearing-sized explosives from compartments mounted on its shoulders that can be directed at an enemy. Pepper Potts' Rescue armor is strong enough to rip the armor covering the lower leg of the Black armor's occupant,[39] though the Black armor can emit a source-focused electromagnetic pulse that can disable the Rescue armor.[40] The Black armor is later confiscated by Stark, leaving Rhodes without a suit.[46]

First appearance: The Invincible Iron Man #523 (October 2012)

In the final issue of the "Long Way Down" storyline, Mandarin reveals that he has control of Stark's mind,[66] and in the continuing storyline, "The Future", has enslaved Stark, forcing him to build the apocalyptic weapons known as Titanomech in Mandarian City outside of Mongolia, alongside other enslaved enemies of Iron Man, in particular Obadiah Stane.[67] Stark and Stane cooperate in order to escape Mandarin, during which Stark builds another suit. This suit is red and gold like Stark's previous suits, but incorporates a number of metallic grey outer surfaces, particularly on the upper body of the suit.[39][40]

First appearance: Iron Man (vol 5) #1 (January 2013)

This gun-metal grey[68] armor debuted in the first part of the 2012 "Believe" storyline, which launched the fifth volume of the Iron Man series as part of the Marvel NOW! initiative. This version of the armor is a testbed for new suits, and is composed by "smart-metals [that] align to a subdermal ghost of a skeleton". This suit can be stored in a fluid "putty" form in a briefcase, and which Stark can mentally command to cover his body. It is more versatile in this sense, but less effective than rigid armors with their dedicated systems. It has a circular chestplate over the arc reactor, and like the Bleeding Edge armor, secondary repulsors are featured all over the armor, though larger in diameter. They are located on either side of the main arc reactor, on the shoulders, on each hip, on each wrist, and on top of each hand. Weapons include a wrist-mounted gun that can fire armor-piercing tasers.[69] It can be rapidly adapted to new combat situations by means of a mobile, container-sized armory and robotic adaptation system, swapping out systems as the situation demands.

First appearance: Iron Man (vol. 5) #3 (February 2013)

This armor debuted in the third issue of the "Believe" storyline, and was used by Stark during a raid on the home of a South American drug lord. The armor uses light-bending and holographic technologies to appear invisible, as well as alter its own appearance in order to impersonate others. Its systems being dedicated to infiltration and espionage mean that its conventional shields and weapons are far less powerful (Repulsor output at 10% normal, for instance), but it does possess the ability to administer a powerful sleeping gas.[70]

First appearance: Iron Man (vol. 5) #4 (February 2013)

Described as starting "Where War Machine leaves off",[71] the Heavy Duty armor is a large, bulky suit that focuses on firepower. In addition to standard repulsor weaponry, the armor possesses a large rotary cannon that is built into the left arm, and a gun turret positioned over the right shoulder. The suit also sports a personal force field, as well as an automated combat AI and plating that according to Stark, is tough enough to withstand blows from a Hulk.[72]

First appearance: Iron Man (vol. 5) #5 (March 2013)

Making its first appearance at the end of the "Believe" arc, the Space Armor MK III was designed by Stark to enable him to travel into outer space. The suit sports back-mounted rocket thrusters and a redesigned helmet, which looks different from the faceplates featured on the previous armors,[73] though the thrusters were gone by the second issue in which it appeared. The new armor - which caused Veritina, a member of the extraterrestrial race the Voldi, to refer to Stark as "Space Knight" -[74] also contains an A.I. named P.E.P.P.E.R., which is modeled after Pepper Potts.[73] The armor has advanced propulsion options, being capable of inter-atmosphere travel at Mach 10, or warp speed travel for outer space which translates to about one trillion times the speed of light.[75]

First appearance: Iron Man: Fatal Frontier Infinite Comic (vol. 1) #2 (October 2013)

An external add-on for the Space Armor MK III, Tony Stark designed this suit specifically for travelling and landing on the moon, since regular traveling would take too much time and warp traveling could crash Iron Man on the surface of the moon. The Saturn V Armor can store much more energy than a regular armor on its back-mounted repulsor batteries and the enhanced boot jets can surpass Mach 10 speed.[76]

First appearance: Iron Man (vol.5) #24 (April 2014)

Travelling to the mystical realm of Svartalfheim to confront its king, Malekith, who had taken possession of four of the rings of the Mandarin, Iron Man first attempts to use stealth and guile. But when this fails, and he is hunted and wounded, he resorts to having this armor teleported in. It is heavy with iron armor plating, and its weapons include four large, extendable blades on its forearms and the ability to douse its surroundings with fine iron 'chaff' - iron being poisonous to elves.

First appearance: Original Sin #3.1: Hulk Vs. Iron Man (June 2014)

A new Hulkbuster model, designed to fight against the Hulk, who at that time considered Tony Stark responsible for sabotaging the Gamma bomb and, as a result, causing the explosion that transformed Bruce Banner. The armor is assembled inside Stark's car or from actual parts of it and it is equipped with the most advanced arsenal to stop the green Goliath, namely Gamma blades, which produce a line of radiation to cut through even Hulk's skin and a powerful 'shock-and-awe' barrage using repulsors and ultrasonics. Though it was possible that this suit would've been capable of stopping the normal Hulk, it was no match for the smarter, Extremis-enhanced Hulk.

First appearance: Superior Iron Man #1 (November 2014)

Stark begins using this armor, which features a chrome finish, in the beginning of the 2014 "Avengers & X-Men: AXIS" storyline. The armor is made of liquid smart-metal incorporating elements of the alien Venom symbiote, which Stark can psionically control to flow over his body like Spider-Man and other hosts to the Venom symbiote could. When covering his body, the material hardens to resembles his other, traditional armors.[77] It is capable of locating and following Tony Stark even in spite of electronic cloaking, since the connection between it and Tony is similar to that between a symbiote and its chosen wearer - so possibly psychic in nature.

First appearance: Invincible Iron Man (vol.2) #1 (October 2015)

Beginning with the 2015 All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, Tony Stark designs a more streamlined and less complex suit of armor, once again with the traditional red and gold colors. This armor's primary feature is that it can change shape depending on the wearer's needs. It can create blades or blasters on its hands or it can morph entirely into more elaborate armors, like a massive, heavy-duty, Hulkbuster-like armor or a samurai-like armor. It has demonstrated the ability to protect Stark automatically from sonic attacks, has a stealth mode, and can project holograms of Stark. Unlike previous models which were connected to Stark's biology, this armor is connected to his brain synapses and it is confined to a bracer when not in use.

First appearance: Tony Stark: Iron Man #1 (June 2018)

More a giant mecha than an armor, this twenty-story machine assembles itself out of two submersibles, two gunships and two aircraft – a large one and a small one. It was created to take on kaiju-sized threats.

First appearance: Avengers (vol.4) #5 (July 2018)

An even larger mecha, the 2000-foot 'Godkiller II' is usually in orbit around Mars, presumably to keep it out of the hands of potential abusers. It can go toe-to-toe with a Celestial, size-wise, but cannot match its power, despite being powered by at least seven nuclear reactors.

First appearance: Tony Stark: Iron Man (vol.1) #10 (virtual) #11 (real world)

While trapped inside the virtual world known as eScape, Tony Stark created an armor design of unknowable power to defeat a self-aware computer program gone rogue; after 'returning' to reality, he re-created it using Sunset Bain's advanced 3-D printer facilities. A towering twenty-something feet tall, it easily defeated the Controller, who had turned himself into a giant monster after absorbing the mental energy of millions of people. Armor expert Riri Williams remarked its power output was beyond anything she had ever seen, and Tony Stark quickly destroyed the armor, stating it was too powerful to exist in the real world.

First appearance: Tony Stark: Iron Man (vol.1) #16

A large, powerful armor, possibly partly based on the 'Godbuster', designed specifically to engage and defeat the Ultron/Pym hybrid. However, when confronting him, Tony was exposed to a device designed to meld humans and machines at the molecular level, just like their creator, and himself was fused to the Ultron buster.

First appearance: Iron Man 2020 (vol.2) #1

This armor was created by Arno Stark, Tony's brother-by-adoption, after Tony Stark seemingly dropped out of the picture. It was based on the Godbuster armor, the designs for which had been partly copied by Arno.

First appearance: Iron Man 2020 (vol.2) #5

A fully 'virtual' armor made out of data manifesting in the real world, as a 'solid hologram'. It was created out of the massive-scale virtual environment known as the 'eScape'. It was claimed its only limitation was its wearer's imagination.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark, portrayed by Robert Downey Jr., has worn and created multiple armors.

In the 2007 direct-to-DVD film The Invincible Iron Man, Stark with James Rhodes' help creates a grey and bulky suit of armor (similar to the original Iron Man armor that Stark and Yinsen created in the comics) in order to escape from caves. After returning to Stark Industries in America, Stark reveals to Rhodes that he had previously used his company's resources to create several multi-use armors (including the Hulkbuster armor, the War Machine armor, and Ultimate Iron Man's armor) that he had been keeping in storage until the time was right to reveal them to the public. Stark first uses his Underwater suit to fight off the Elementals, destroying one while sustaining minor damage to the suit. Stark subsequently uses a red-and-yellow suit (resembling Iron Man's standard armor) to destroy two Elementals in a volcano, although there was severe damage to his suit. When he returns to China, Stark returns to using his grey suit to fight the last Elemental, an army of Terracotta soldiers, a giant dragon, and even the Mandarin.

War Machine and Iron Man in the 1994 Iron Man animated series

As noted above, Iron Man's modular armor was his standard suit for his appearance in the 1990s Iron Man animated series, but with a slightly modified face plate to give it the traditional mouth-slit. The suit was redesigned in the second season of the show, most significantly by restoring the "mouthless" appearance of the armor. (The season 1 armor appeared in a flashback early on)

The trademark of a changing armor remained a constant in the animated series, with the first season featuring the hydro-armor and deep space armor, straight from the comics. The second season, however, was when the variant armors became a focal point of the series; the new modifications Stark made to his suit allowed it to shape-shift into different forms with specialized capabilities that could be called upon for the assorted situations he found himself in. The hydro-armor and space armors were incorporated into this mechanism, and more armors from the comics such as the stealth armor and Hulkbuster armor were introduced. The series also introduced an array of original situational armor designs, including:

• Subterranean drill armor - brown and gold, with an arm-mounted pneumatic drill for burrowing.
• Inferno armor - red and gold with pink highlights, this armor was resistant to extreme temperatures and outfitting with fire-extinguishing foam, which proved helpful in combat with Firebrand.
• Samurai armor - never used in combat, this highly stylized armor was blue and grey.
• Radiation armor - blue and silver armor to shield against radioactive danger, capable of firing x-ray blasts.
• Lava armor - red and silver armor that can resist submergence in magma, which proved helpful when Iron Man had to recover one of the Mandarin's rings from within a volcano.
• Magnetic armor - purple and silver, with the ability to generate electromagnetic pulses, once used by a microscopically reduced Iron Man to fibrillate Hawkeye's heart.
• Bio-energy armor - DNA-powered red and gold armor, used against the Mandarin's anti-technology field in the two-part series finale "Hands of the Mandarin".
• Hydro armor - yellow with a glass-domed helmet, is used for underwater situations.
• Space armor - used to break through the Earth's atmosphere, the only thing that appears to be different is that it has a jet pack.
• Stealth armor - dark gray, used to stay silent and not traceable by radar.

Destroyer armor. A miniature destroyer in odins Trophy room. Used against Asgardians

The toyline also featured two armors which did not appear in the series; an entirely silver Arctic armor and the Silver Centurion suit, dubbed Hologram armor.

Several types of Iron Man armors were also featured in the Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes episode "Shell Games". The armors that were featured were the Mark I Armor, Stealth Armor, Hulkbuster Armor, Arctic Armor, War Machine Armor, and the Silver Centurion Armor.

In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, a teenage Stark initially creates the first armor completely on his own. It is similar to the movie version of the Mark III armor, with a less complex design and more red. Its level of technology is summarized by Obadiah Stane's scientists when they explain the armor is "more advanced than anything we're currently working on" and that "it's years, if not decades ahead of current technology" (Tony even mentioned in the same episode that he may have "outgeniused himself" when he made the armor). In addition to the traditional abilities of the armor (superhuman strength and durability, flight, repulsors, and the uni-beam), it is able to generate a force field around it, uses magnetic manipulation, and has other various functions, including a remote command system to enable Rhodes to control it from a separate computer terminal if Stark cannot ("Secrets and lies"), a security system to prevent people from opening it when Stark is unconscious ("Seeing Red") and a secondary wheeled transportation system that enables him to "skate" when the flight system is damaged ("Masquerade"). It can even adapt to fit any size ("Don't Worry, Be Happy"). In "Ancient History 101", Stark even creates a pack that allows him to don the armor when and where he needs to, combined with anti-gravity devices so as to reduce the suit's weight (possibly based on how the comic version always carried his armor in his briefcase).

Iron Man's original armor in Iron Man: Armored Adventures

The armor briefly gained intelligence in Episode 14 of Season 1 "Man and Iron Man". Problems arose due to its desire to protect Stark above all (including almost killing Whiplash, as it did in the comics) - by constantly keeping him inside itself. However, like in the comics, the armor sacrificed itself in order to save Stark during a cardiac arrest.

The first variation of the armor appears in "Cold War" when he created enhanced Thermal Gauntlets for his armor and used them to help him fight Blizzard. After the fight, he talks about creating Arctic and Space Armor.

New armors then appear in various episodes:

• Silver Centurion: Red and silver, very similar to the original red and gold armor and its own comic counterpart in both appearance and abilities. Stark created it in the episode "Whip Lash", and used it in the same episode to fight the eponymous villain. The Silver Centurion armor made a cameo in "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and other episodes.
• Stealth Armor: initially similar to the red and gold armor, but with a different chest plate and lights on the sides. First seen and used in "Field Trip". It allows Stark to become invisible and undetectable to cameras and sensors, including those used by Stark International. Unfortunately, this function eventually burns up the power cells after a short period of time. The armor returned in "Panther's Prey" with a new design that is almost completely a bluish-black with red lights on the sides (more like its comic design). This version made several cameos in later episodes and was shown exploding in "Tales of Suspense (Part One)", though a rebuilt one was used in season 2. At the end of "Iron vs Titanium", Stark upgraded the armor with better weapons and stealth gear.
• Hulkbuster Armor: A heavy-duty armor designed for maximum strength and endurance at the cost of reduced mobility. It has the ability to redirect energy shot at it and has powerful versions of the repulsors and uni-beam as well as missiles and shoulder mounted Gatling laser blasters. First used to take on the Crimson Dynamo in "Seeing Red" when Obadiah Stane redesigned and weaponized it and sent it after Iron Man. Stark later used it in "Uncontrollable" to fight the Hulk (a reference to its comic roots). The armor was later shown exploding in "Tales of Suspense (Part One)". Its designs were later used to create Firepower in "Armor Wars" (Stark refers to the suit by name in this episode). It has a slight resemblance to the X-Men villain Juggernaut. Stark later used the rebuilt armor to fight the Iron Monger in "Heavy Mettle". It appears again in the episode "Rage of the Hulk", in which Stark wears it over his regular armor, before it is severely damaged by the Hulk.
• Space Armor: A mouth-less, black and gold armor that has all of the same weapons systems as Stark's standard armor. However, this armor also has extended life-support capabilities and an expanded propulsion system on the back (twin thrusters) for long-term flight and for flying into and maneuvering through space. Stark mentions making space armor at the end of "Cold War" and used it for the first time in "Fun with Lasers" against the Living Laser. It was later worn by Stark's father, Howard Stark, in the season 2 finale.
• Arctic Armor: A white and gold armor that contains additional systems that project thermal energy from Iron Man's gauntlets and uni-beam. Also, Stark said the Mark II armor's sonic disrupters were adapted from this suit. It has greater life-support functions and generally resists freezing temperatures. This special suit is equipped for long-range flight. Stark mentioned making arctic armor at the end of "Cold War" and used it in "Best Served Cold" against Blizzard.
• War Machine Armor: Whereas Stark created the Iron Man armor as a multi-environment suit for exploration and rescue, the War Machine armor was created for fighting. The War Machine is as fast as the Mark I Armor, but it has numerous weapons, more powerful and bulkier than the normal armor. Equipped with more powerful versions of the Repulsors and Uni-Beam, the War Machine also sports three shoulder mounted missile launchers as well as wrist-mounted machine guns and a shoulder mounted Gatling laser rifle. While Iron Man is red, War Machine is grey. The War Machine first appeared in the two-part season finale "Tales of Suspense", where Rhodes uses it to bring the Mark I Armor to Stark and help him against the Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom. Rhodey has since frequently used the suit throughout season 2.
• Iron Man Mark II Armor: In the second season of series, Stark creates a more powerful suit of Iron Man Armor. Its design possibly originated from the Extremis Armor from the comics and the first season's Silver Centurion Armor. In addition to the enhanced versions of all the systems from the Mark I Armor, it also has wrist mounted flame blasters, shoulder-mounted missile launchers, sonic disrupters (Stark mentions they were adapted from the Arctic Armor) and more powerful repulsors and Uni-Beam. Starting with the episode "Extremis", Stark controls the Mark II using his Extremis abilities.
• Rescue Armor: Also known as the Stark Solutions X-51 Stealth Infiltrator Armor, was created by Stark for Pepper Potts. Essentially an upgraded version of the Stealth armor, but with better Repulsors, the Uni-beam, Energy Grenades and Laser Spark blasters, and just like the Stealth Armor, it has a stealth mode equipped inside it. The suit was given to Pepper at the start of the episode "Dragonseed" as an early birthday present. The armor is recolored purple and white; rather than in the comics, where the color is crimson and silver. In addition, it is more feminine looking than the comic version.
• Hyperpulse Mark 9 Armor: A highly advanced Iron Man armor worn by Andros Stark of the year 2099, that looks like the Cosmic Armor from the comics. This armor utilizes Time Travel capabilities, Ultra-Repulsor Blasts, runs on Extremis 16.5 and can create hard light Holographic photos. Andros's AI for this armor is JARVIS. Through the advanced technology of this armor, Andros alone could take on the combined might of Iron Man, War Machine, Hawkeye, and SHIELD. However, being that Andros prevented the creation of the Vortex Virus, it is unknown if this armor still exists in the future. The Hyperpulse Mark 9 only appears in the episode Iron Man 2099.

In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes series, in which Iron Man is the co-leader of the Avengers, his standard armors are based on the ones in the film series. In "The Kang Dynasty", he even made special suits for the Avengers to use in the space battle against Kang, excluding the Hulk (who only needed a breathing mask) and Black Panther (who was still in Wakanda).

His current armored suits give him the standard superhuman strength and durability, flight, repulsors and the unibeam projector. They also have energy shields, an electromagnetic pulse generator, arm-mounted cannons and projectile launchers, various tools like a drill or detachable hip tasers, and can absorb and release energy.

Additional armors from the comics that were shown in the series are:

• Mark I Armor (also based on the movie version, but with full flight capability, repulsors, and unibeam; first seen in "Ultron-5")
• Mark II Armor (first seen in "The Ultron Imperative")
• Mark VI Armor (first seen in "Breakout, Part 1")
• Mark VII Armor (his standard armor in Season 1, the design of this armor is the same as the Mark VI Armor; first seen in "Breakout, Part 2")
• Mark IX Armor (his main armor in Season 2. The new suit is based on the Extremis armor and/or the Mark VI from Iron Man 2; first seen in "Alone Against A.I.M.")
• Classic Armor (first seen in "The Ultron Imperative")
• Silver Centurion Armor (first seen in "The Ultron Imperative")
• Hulkbuster Armor (a headless exterior unit over his standard suit; first seen in "Everything is Wonderful")
• Hulkbuster Armor II (a bulky suit that looks like the mainstream Hulkbuster armor; first seen in "The Deadliest Man Alive")
• Space Armor (first seen in "The Kang Dynasty")
• Arctic Armor (first seen in "Casket of Ancient Winters")
• Stealth Armor (first seen in "The Ultron Imperative")
• Thorbuster Armor (an Asgardian Iron Man suit that was built in Asgard by Stark and Eitri the Dwarf using uru metal, making its repulsors similar to Mjolnir's lightning; first seen in "A Day Unlike Any Other")
• Armor Drones: While under the influence of The Purple Man, Tony mass produced various Iron Man like drones referred to as Armors by JARVIS. These bare a resemblance to the Mark II armor from the 1970's and also come in giant size similarly to Sentinels. There sole appearance was in the episode Emperor Stark.

The Iron Man anime series features an Iron Man armor similar to the movie's Mark III armor, except that in the anime the armor is only shown to be equipped with the repulsors, unibeam, and mini-rockets. Plus, instead of J.A.R.V.I.S. as the suit's AI; It has a female-voiced computer named "Computer" that sounds similar to the AI in the suit(s) of Iron Man Armored Adventures.

The plot of the series involves Stark traveling to Japan to build an ARC station and also to test a new armor: Iron Man Dio. Stark intends to mass-produce Dio and then retire as Iron Man. The Dio chest power core resembles the one on the Extremis Armor, but the armor is colored blue and silver rather than red and gold. Dio's head is also slightly redesigned from the typical Iron Man armor with curved features on its faceplate. The Dio armor is stolen in the first episode of the series, and Stark is forced to fight the Dio armor repeatedly over the series. Stark asserts the Dio Armor is a knock-off of the real Iron Man armor, but Dio is demonstrated as being equal to or surpassing Stark's standard armor in terms of performance. Maybe it is because the armor's performance depends on how good the pilot is.

The SDF later create a suit of armor called "Ramon Zero", used by Captain Nagato Sakurai. It resembles a samurai's armor. The Japanese armor appears to have a red pentagon-shaped ARC reactor, is armed with powerful swords, and also uses repulsors and missiles in combat.

Yinsen, revealed to still be alive and piloting the Dio Armor, builds an army of autonomous drones called Iron Man Sigma. These drones resemble the Dio Armor, except the Sigma armor is colored army camouflage.

In Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, Tony Stark dons an armor that could possibly resemble his Marvel NOW! armor from the comics, but with even less gold color and a predominant red instead of black. The abilities of the armor are pretty much the standard, namely extreme physical strength and speed, repulsors, unibeam, and a suitcase transformation module. Its unique feature is the extra thrusters on its back and feet and the small, retractable wings on the shoulder pads. Stark appears with the same armor in the follow-up anime movie Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher.

In the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, the episode "The Iron Octopus" reveals several prior suits developed by Stark:

• Mark I Armor
• Mark II Armor
• Mark III Armor
• Hulkbuster Armor
• Classic Armor

In the animated series Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., the episode "Wheels of Fury" reveals several prior suits developed by Stark:

• War Machine Armor
• Mark I Armor
• Sliver Centurion Armor
• Stealth Armor
• Hulkbuster Armors: Called Mark 17 by Red Hulk, Iron man is revealed to have five different models of this armor, each meant to take out one of the Hulks. These are destroyed during the Episode Hulk-Busted, although at Hulk's request Stark had decided to rebuild only one.

In the animated series, Avengers Assemble, Iron Man battles alongside the other Avengers. Iron Man reveals that he has made numerous armors in the episode "The Avengers Protocol Part 2". In season 2, his main armor looks slightly modified, with smaller shoulder plates and a more "movie-style" detailed helmet. Its prehensile capabilities are shown more prominently and now it has a suitcase module. It is currently unknown which model is this suit. In season 5, Black Panther's Quest, (partly due to the fact that the animation style has changed) Iron Man's armor has become sleeker, resembling an amalgamation of the Bleeding Edge and Model-Prime armors from the comics and retaining the "holographic" activation style from Season 4:

• Mark XLIX Armor (first seen in "The Avengers Protocol Part 1") This armor is stolen by MODOK and given to Red Skull, converting it into the Iron Skull Armor.
• Mark L Armor (his main armor, its design is similar to the Mark XLIX Armor, first seen in "The Avengers Protocol Part 2")
• "Rubber Ducky" Armor (undersea armor; first seen in "Depth Charge")
• "Herald" Armor (the Mark L seemingly infused with cosmic powers by Galactus, first seen in "Guardians and Space Knights")
• Mark I Armor (first seen in "Exodus" as part of the show's incarnation of the "Iron Legion")
• "Hulkbuster" Armor (first seen in "Exodus" as part of the show's incarnation of the "Iron Legion")
• War Machine Armor (first seen in a cameo appearance in "The Avengers Protocol Part 1", later remote controlled in "Exodus" as part of the show's incarnation of the "Iron Legion")
• Iron Patriot Armor (probably retrieved after Norman Osborn became the Green Goblin again in "Ultimate Spider-Man"; first seen in "Exodus" as part of the show's incarnation of the "Iron Legion")
• Stealth Armor (black and gold armor, resembling Iron Man's Marvel NOW! armor from the comics; first seen in "Exodus" as part of the show's incarnation of the "Iron Legion")
• Undersea Armor II (a new, dark-colored armor resembling the Mark XXXVII "Hammerhead" from Iron Man 3; first seen in "Beneath the Surface")
• Iron Kid Armor (an armor worn by the de-aged Tony, based on designs he made when he was 8 years old. It resembles a small version of his classic armor with the horned visor; first seen in "The Age of Tony Stark")
• Silver Centurion Armor (an adaptation of the classic red/silver armor from the comics and the Mark XXXIII from Iron Man 3; first seen in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. episode "Wheels of Fury")
• Asgardian Buster Armor (an armor which resembles Stark's Uru Armor from the 2011 crossover event "Fear Itself". It was taken over by Ultron; first seen in "Avengers Disassembled")
• A red/gold armor that resembles the Mark VI from Iron Man 2, which was under the control of Ultron (first seen in "Avengers Disassembled")
• A red/gold armor that resembles the Marvel NOW! Space Armor MK III from the comics. It was controlled by Ultron against the Avengers; first seen in "Avengers Disassembled")
• Mark II (A metallic silver armor, where the design of his current armor probably came from, also with prehensile capabilities; first seen in "Terminal Velocity")
• "New Frontiers" Armor (a massive, enormous armor resembling Ultimate Iron Man's armor from the Ultimate Comics, which even though untested, was deployed to face Thanos head-on; first seen in "Avengers World")
• New "Hulkbuster" Armor (a nearly identical armor to the Mark XLIV from Avengers: Age of Ultron, repainted green and grey by Bruce Banner to battle the Steel Corps. During the episode "World War Hulk" it is shown Iron Man had made each Avenger (except for Thor) their own variation, meant to work with their personal abilities; first seen in "Dehulked" and later in "Seeing Double" with its proper colors)
  • Bruce Banner would use a dream conjured variation of this armor in the movie Hulk: Where Monster's Dwell to battle Hulk in their shared subconscious when attacked by Nightmare.
• Omega Armor (a black, red and gold armor that Tony Stark is supposed to build in the future, in Kang's timeline; first seen in "Into the Future")
• A blue heavy-duty armor resembling the Mark XXXVIII "Igor" from Iron Man 3 (first seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy episode "Stayin' Alive")
• "Marsha" (a copper-colored truck modified by Stark to transform into a blocky, robotic armor, while he was hiding in No-Tech Land; first seen in the episode "Beyond")
• "Secret Wars" Armor (Stark's main armor in season 4. It looks like an amalgamation of Iron Man's armors from Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, with heavy artillery, fully retractable helmet and a holographic assembly system; first seen in the episode "Underworld")
• Mark 59A Armor (similar to the main Iron Man armor in Season 5, but built with a titanium reinforced hardshell and a modulating force bubble, an "anti-Panther" device as Stark calls it, to fight the Black Panther; first seen in "The Vibranium Curtain: Part 1")
• Panther Buster Armor (a red and gold armor, much like his main one, but bulkier and taller, with a different helmet, chest plate and arc reactor, which comprises the central circular reactor and multiple, small light-up panels. The armor is equipped with a prototype triple pulse generator, a laser net and a pair of retractable blasters mounted on the back; first seen in "The Vibranium Curtain: Part 1")

In this direct-to-video team-up feature, Tony Stark displays three armors. His initial armor, the 'Mark VI', is a slightly bulky hypervelocity armor with a circular unibeam lens. It is somewhat reminiscent of the cinematic Mark III, but with a less complex paint job and more gold color. It is first seen battling a Hulkbuster armor run by J.A.R.V.I.S. in a training exercise. This time, Stark does not wear the Hulkbuster, instead giving the torso armor and the gauntlets to Hulk for extra protection against Zzzax. Stark's final armor is the 'Mark VII', an untested prototype which has better chances of defending against Zzzax. The armor clearly resembles the cinematic Mark VI, with grey plating on the knees and arms, but with a pentagonal unibeam instead of triangular one. The Mark VII is Tony's main and only armor in the follow-up animated movie Iron Man and Captain America: Heroes United. While there was also a Stealth armor, it was stolen and worn by Taskmaster.

In Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, Iron Man's armor is almost identical to the cinematic Mark VI, although the name of this model is not stated in the series. Its weaponry and abilities are the standard, with flight capabilities, repulsor rays, missiles, and the unibeam. When Akira, Tony's partner, inputs the hidden command 'X-W-1-0-1-Alpha-7', Iron Man can unleash his 'Ultimate Unibeam' attack. Because Stark is trapped inside a DISK (Digital Identity Securement Kit), he is always seen in his armor. In episode 28, Iron Man gains the Build Up Plate, an extra piece of armor worn over his regular one, which grants him more firepower thanks to his Final Repulsor attack.

The standard Iron Man armor featured in Marvel Future Avengers bears a striking resemblance to the Mark XLVI from Captain America: Civil War. The suit has prehensile abilities, shown when Tony Stark is able to control a gauntlet individually and then the rest of the pieces form up on him, completing the whole armor. Two additional modular add-ons were shown during the series: the Hulkbuster armor, an add-on donned over his regular armor that looks exactly like the Mark XLIV Hulkbuster from Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the Booster Unit, an add-on with a pair of thrusters and multiple arc reactors on the chestplate and shoulders that enables Iron Man to reach extremely high speeds during flight. The main operating system of the armor is FRIDAY.

Two different armors are shown in the series, the Mark 49 and 50. The Mark 49 appears to be based on the other armors in the franchise. The Mark 50, however, is mainly red with a gold face mask and collar bone, with a prehensile system. According to Tony, it can act as the central unit to an Iron Legion. Both the Mark 49 and 50 debuted (Mark 49 was destroyed by Ghost) in the episode Stark Expo.