One of the things that frustrated the Fantastic Four most about their archnemesis Doctor Doom was his Doombots. Not only were these robots formidable fighters, Doom also frequently used them as decoys, meaning every time the FF thought they’d cornered Doom, they found they’d only taken down a Doombot. At times, the Doombots would be so good at impersonating Doom, even attaining a degree of sentience, that they’d launch master plans of their own.
This backfired in a spectacular way on Doctor Doom, however, when one Doombot not only achieved sentience, it decided to start a life of its own. Even stranger? It ended up becoming a reluctant hero.
In The Unbelievable Gwenpool, fourth wall-breaking meta-hero/villain Gwenpool discovers a lost story where a wayward Doombot encountered the mechanical genius Phineas Mason (aka the Tinkerer) before he turned to crime. Intrigued by the advanced robot, Mason began repairing and modifying the automaton, even giving it fake skin and a human appearance. This Doombot began assisting Mason in his shop and took on the name “Vincent.” However, they had a falling out when Mason became the Tinkerer and turned to crime.
Opting for a peaceful life, Vincent moved to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and tried to stay out of trouble as much as possible. To ensure his neighborhood remained free of violence, Vincent even hired mercenaries to take out potential threats before they became a problem. This brought him into conflict with Gwenpool, whose reckless actions threatened the peaceful life he wanted. Although he wanted to live a normal life, Vincent ended up having to use his Doombot-related superpowers – including super strength and flight – to defend his neighborhood and become a hero.
Eventually, Vincent and Gwenpool achieved a sort of understanding and Vincent even took Gwen to a little-known secret base of Doctor Doom when Gwenpool told Vincent she wanted to take out the Latverian monarch (to be seen as a major Marvel superhero). This caused Vincent to come face-to-face with his “father” Victor Von Doom for the first time in years. While Vincent despised Doctor Doom, Doom – who had temporarily reformed and even taken up the mantle of Iron Man – told Vincent that he was proud of him for becoming a sentient being who had grown past his original programming.
When Gwenpool accidentally split this “good” Doctor Doom into two beings, the “evil” Doom ended up blowing Vincent up. However, the “good” Doom resurfaced and reassembled Vincent’s damaged components and brought his consciousness back online. Shaken but impressed, Vincent expressed some interest in communicating with his father. Whether or not their relationship evolved from this point is unknown – but considering that Doctor Doom has since reverted to his “evil” persona, Vincent may be one of the few genuine heroes that Doom helped create.