Iron Man

Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark was the arrogant son of wealthy, weapon manufacturer Howard Stark. Tony cared only about himself, but he would have a change of heart after he was kidnapped by terrorists and gravely injured. Pressured to create a weapon of mass destruction, Stark instead created a suit of armor powerful enough for him to escape. Tony used his vast resources and intellect to make the world a better place as The Invincible Iron Man. Stark's super hero identity led him to become a founding member of the Avengers.

Tony Stark's intellect allows him to constantly upgrade his armor designs. Stark recently had to inject himself with the Extremis techno-organic virus to save his life. The effects are that now the inner layers of the Iron Man suit can be stored in the hollows of his bones, and he can control the suit with his mind through direct brain impulses. He can also remotely connect to just about any communication device, including satellites and computers, across the world. Stark can even regenerate organs due to the enhancement. Extremis also allows Stark to interface with his armor in a faster and more efficient manner as well, thus dramatically increasing his response time. Without his armor Tony Stark is considered to be above peak human and has displayed superhuman capabilities such as super human reflexes, His speed, strength and agility without his armor is now considered to be at peak human levels.

Iron Man's abilities are constantly changing because of his constant technological upgrades on the armors.

The armor is very durable, capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of punishment, including attacks from the likes of Hulk, Thor, Hercules, Namor, Wonder Man, Gladiator, Sentry, Blue Marvel, Colossus, the Thing, Rhino, Fin Fang Foom and Luke Cage, among others. Tony Stark's armor has a muscularly aligned matrix of crystallized iron enhanced by magnetic fields over layers of other metals like titanium, which grants him endurance capable of withstanding high caliber bullets with ease. He can withstand rockets, torpedoes and such, although he does take damage.

The armor also enables Iron Man to fly at high speeds, exceeding the speed of a jet airplane, due to the rocket propelled boots that are placed on the bottom of the armor's boots.

Iron Man's suit has many power sources, such as solar converters, electrical batteries and an on-board generator that uses beta particle absorption as a fuel source. The suit is also able to convert nearby energy sources, such as heat or kinetic energy into electricity, or even drain electrical energy directly into the batteries for recharge. Although the suit has some open holes to allow the wearer to breathe normal air, it can be sealed off, allowing the pilot of the suit to go underwater or into space by granting its own life support and limited air supply systems.

As mentioned, Tony Stark controls the suit mostly by movement as if the armor is his skin and through the Extremis upgrade(before it started to fail), essentially making the suit an extension of his own body. In addition to this however is an internal artificial intelligence operating system that provides strategies, background information on opponents, and on surroundings and the current status of the suit.

Stark also has equipped the suit with numerous weapons over the years, making the suit more powerful each time. The most often used weapons are the repulsor rays (magnetically channeled beams of super-heated plasma) that are fired from Iron Man's palms or gauntlets. Other weapons that are built into the armor include the uni-beam projector in its chest (controlling the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum from blinding searchlights to cutting lasers), pulse bolts that pick up kinetic energy along the way, so that they hit harder the further they have to travel, an electromagnetic pulse generator and energy shield, the generation of ultra-freons, the creating and manipulating of magnetic fields, sonic blasts, and a holographic generator to create decoys.

Tony Stark has also created many specialized models of the armor. Other models that are in his possession include a model for deep-sea diving, for stealth, space travel, etc. He has also enhanced the armor on a few occasions for unique circumstances. For example, Tony Stark has modified suits like the "Hulkbuster" heavy armor, composed of add-ons to his so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability to allow it to take on the Incredible Hulk in combat. One time, when Stark had to face Thor, he made an armor modeled on the Destroyer and used a mystical power source.

While the Iron Man suit is very durable, high amounts of lighting or electricity can make the suit overload, as well as magnets, as this would happen to a regular machine.

Tony stark is effectively a genius, able to constantly create new and improved technologies and make upgrade after upgrade to his suit of cybernetic armor. Iron Man is able to harness his intelligence and ingenuity in order to allow him to defeat more powerful foes and escape their dangerous traps and machinations. Stark is also a powerful leader, able to command the loyalty and respect of others. Stark has been expertly trained by Captain America in hand-to-hand combat, making him a formidable opponent even without the power suit.