Anthony Stark (Earth-168)

Anthony "Tony" Stark is the CEO of StarkTech International, as well as the hero known as Iron Man.

Iron Origins
While at a weapons demonstration in Syria, Tony was injured heavily when a group of rebels attacked the military compound. A piece of shrapnel was plunged into his chest, and he had trouble breathing. He was rushed to a hospital, where his 'Private Medical Armada' took care of him, removing the shrapnel from his chest and stitching him together. However, he began suffering intense trauma from it, and his heart kept giving way. Desperate to fix the problem, Tony spent the next few days developing an efficient pacemaker from the Arc Reactor technology he had taken to demonstrate, not trusting the country's health system to give him a reliable treatment. He had it surgically implanted, and after a few more days of recovering from the operation, headed back to finish the exhibition.

Seeing Tony alive and well, as well as with the glowing Arc Reactor in his chest, the rebels returned after the exhibition, attacking while on his way to the airport. They took him to a bunker, and forced him to create weapons for them. Tony quickly developed the idea of building the weapons as they wanted, but when they came to collect the weapons, use them to escape. After several weeks, he realised the weapons he was building fit together, and ended up creating a suit. He explained to his captors that it was more efficient than individual weapons, giving a single person an entire range of weapons to use. They allowed him to continue, keeping him under strict supervision.

However, once he had finished the suit he decided to destroy it, preferring to die than hand over such weapons. On one of the rare occasions where he was left alone, Tony poured molten metal onto the suit, binding all the weapons and distorting them, stopping any chance of them being used. When his captors found out, they took Tony outside, into the desert, several miles away from the base. After a few hours of walking, they came to a small village, where they escorted Tony to the central courtyard. They called out the people, and were about to execute him publicly when SHIELD Agents arrived, having tracked the unique energy signature of the Arc Reactor in Tony's chest. They captured the rebel group and took Tony back to America, where he spent a week locked in the top three floors of Stark Tower, his 'skyscraper-mounted mansion'.

When he came out, he began dedicating his time to creating a new armour, safe in his own personal possession. It took him several months, but he created a silver armour, much more sleek and efficient than the one he had built in the rebel's base. When it was complete, he created a system to attach to his private helicopter that allowed him to transport the suit where he needed to go. He began travelling beyond the tower, using the armour to stop criminal activity, such as gang meetings and drug dealings. He gained the name "Iron Man" by the public, who saw him as a great hero, protecting New York from crime.