The Invincible Iron Man is Marvel's most well-known armored character and for good reason. As the most recognized character of the MCU, fans have become familiar with dozens of variations of his classic armor that have been featured in countless movies, TV shows, and video games.
But Tony Stark is far from Marvel's only armored adventurer, and the comics are filled with characters who wield their own high-tech battle suits. Some have been allies, donning suits designed by Stark himself. Others have commandeered his designs for nefarious purposes or created their own unique suits of armor to rival Iron Man's intimidating arsenal.
Iron Monger
Ruthless industrialist Obadiah Stane wished to acquire Stark Enterprises by any means necessary. After orchestrating a series of misfortunes upon Stark, Stane found his opportunity when the hero relapsed into alcoholism and initiated a hostile buyout. While pillaging the technology of the renamed Stane International, Obadiah discovered incomplete schematics for one of Tony's early Iron Man suits, which he used to build the massive Iron Monger armor.
Although enormous, durable, and possessing many of Stark's trademark weapons including repulsor rays and jet boots, Stane's inexperience and hubris would prove to be his downfall. After being outmatched by a recovering Iron Man, Stane chose to turn his repulsor beams on himself rather than admit defeat.
Rescue
Virginia "Pepper" Potts has always been one of Stark's most trusted allies. Because of this, she was one of Norman Osborn's first targets when he took control of S.H.I.E.L.D., renaming it H.A.M.M.E.R. and staffing the organization with an army of supervillains. While escaping the besieged Stark Enterprises, Potts discovered a secret armor left for her by Tony and became the hero known as Rescue.
Designed for defense, the Rescue armor possesses no offensive weaponry, save for non-lethal sonic manipulators. However, it provides Pepper with superhuman strength, durability, and flight, as well as an instantaneously reacting AI, and a limited amount of electromagnetic manipulation via its repulsor generators. While she has proven able to hold her own amongst Marvel's super-powered population as Rescue, Pepper's preference is for only armoring up when absolutely necessary.
Crimson Dynamo
Powered by its ability to manipulate electromagnetic energy, the Crimson Dynamo armor was created and first worn by Anton Vanko, one of Russia's most brilliant scientific minds. Intended to directly rival the American hero Iron Man, it fell short of expectations and Vanko was outmatched by the Avenger in each of their encounters. After Vanko's resultant disgrace and removal from the role, the armor was periodically upgraded and subsequently used to arm at least a dozen other Soviet operatives. While the personalities of its pilots are different, their motivations and loyalties are consistent, and they are often portrayed alongside Russian hero Red Guardian as members of the country's Avengers equivalent, the Crimson Guard.
Iron Spider
Designed for Peter Parker when he sided with Iron Man during 2006's infamous Civil War event, the Iron Spider is an adaptation of Stark's classic Iron Man suit that granted significant upgrades to Spider-Man's arsenal. Including the ability to withstand small-arms fire, short-distance gliding capabilities, and cloaking technology, its most notable components are its retractable, telescoping "legs" which can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes.
After being discarded by Parker, the suit was first replicated to empower recruits of the superhero Initiative called the Scarlet Spiders. After the repeal of the Superhuman Registration Act and dissolving of the Initiative, a version of the Iron Spider suit appeared on the supervillain black market, eventually coming into the possession of Aaron Davis, the uncle of Miles Morales.
Titanium Man
There have been a few wearers of the Titanium Man armor but all of them have been decorated Russian agents. The original, Boris Bullski, was a Soviet Intelligence Agent who occasionally partnered with a young Natalia Romanova, aka the Black Widow, early in her espionage career. Bullski's suit was bulky and slower than Stark's Iron Man armor, but stronger, and possessed menacing amounts of firepower.
His successor, Kondrati Yurivich Topolov, was a genius Soviet supervillain also known as the Gremlin. His Titanium Man suit was more streamlined and faster but sacrificed the durability of the previous model. Bullski has reappeared sporadically over the years, wearing upgraded versions of his original imposing armor. Topolov, on the other hand, met his fate during 1988's critically acclaimed Armor Wars event, when his suit overloaded and exploded while the Gremlin was still inside.
Ironheart
A child prodigy obsessed with superheroes, Riri Williams reverse-engineered a suit of Iron Man's armor to avenger her father's death. After her initial test runs attracted media attention, she was approached by Tony Stark, who endorsed her desire to become a superhero, later recruiting her into battle during the second Civil War event.
With Stark in a coma following the war's conclusion, Williams redesigned her Iron Man suit and vowed to uphold his legacy. As Ironheart, she possesses a faster, more aerodynamic version of Iron Man's most state-of-the-art armor, guided by an AI version of Tony Stark himself. Ironheart continues to be one of Marvel's most prominent young heroes in the comics and will soon make her silver screen debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Sentient Armor
A corrupted AI combined with a freak lightning strike granted one of Iron Man's armors autonomy and self-awareness. Initially desiring to please Tony, the Sentient Armor frequently offered advice on missions, but slowly, it developed a twisted obsession with him and an addiction to being Iron Man. When it took control as Iron Man and killed a villain while Tony was still inside, Stark rejected the Sentient Armor.
Dejected, it abandoned Stark on a deserted island and briefly set out to prove it could be Iron Man without him. Returning to offer one last chance to join it, the Armor battled and defeated Stark. Seeing its beloved creator near death, with the arc reactor powering his heart failing, the Sentient Armor finally understood human sacrifice. To prove it was just as human as Stark, it removed its own power source to repair Tony's arc reactor before collapsing at his feet.
Arno Stark
When Tony Stark learned he was adopted, he also discovered he had an older brother. While Arno possessed the same genius intellect, he had been born with a genetic abnormality that confined him permanently to an iron lung. Arno at first displayed an optimistic attitude towards both his predicament and the world around him, sharing with Tony his ideas to improve the world and "live for the future."
Eventually, their relationship soured as Arno began to show increasingly conceited and sociopathic tendencies, culminating when he "hacked" his own DNA, rewriting his genetic code to abate the symptoms of his disease. Determined to save the world from itself, Arno orchestrated a plot to oust Tony from Stark Enterprises, seizing control of the company and assembling his own variation of the Iron Man armor.
War Machine
Designed by Tony Stark as a heavy artillery variation of the Iron Man armor, the War Machine suit represents the pinnacle of combat technology. With interchangeable modular weapons, it can be outfitted specifically for the needs of each mission. It includes a tactical computer system with automatic targeting, wrist-mounted double-barreled cannons, shoulder-mounted mini rocket launchers, and a retractable, shoulder-mounted minigun amongst its vast arsenal of weaponry.
First worn by Tony Stark in Iron Man #85 (1976), it was later given to Stark's longtime friend and pilot James "Rhodey" Rhodes after his own successful stint in the legacy of Iron Man. As War Machine, Rhodes has fought alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, on multiple occasions and eventually joined their ranks himself while forging a legacy all his own.
Iron Patriot
When Norman Osborn, formerly known as the villainous Green Goblin, assumed command of the world's heroes during the Dark Reign storyline, he came into possession of a trove of Tony Stark's technology. Building himself an Iron Man suit enhanced with Oscorp weaponry, Osborn coated it in Captain America's colors, becoming the Iron Patriot. As the leader of the Dark Avengers, Iron Patriot had all the firepower and artillery that best Iron Man armor possessed. However, Osborn lacked the skill, patience, and morality to wield such a powerful suit of armor and was quickly defeated by a host of Marvel heroes during his attempted siege of Thor's home Asgard.