- "You said nobody else would possess this technology for twenty years. Well, guess what? Somebody else had it yesterday."
- ―James Rhodes to Tony Stark[src]
The Mark I Whiplash Armor was created by Ivan Vanko in an attempt to kill Tony Stark as revenge for his father, Howard, deporting Vanko's father, Anton and leaving their family to live in poverty.
History[]
Duel of Monaco[]
- "Speaking of thieves, where did you get this design?"
"My father. Anton Vanko."
"Never heard of him."
"My father is the reason you’re alive." - ―Tony Stark and Ivan Vanko[src]
Ivan Vanko created the Whiplash harness using his father's blueprints for the Arc Reactor and his own proficiency in engineering. He used this armor to try and kill Tony Stark at the Circuit de Monaco; however, he was defeated by Stark in his Mark V armor. After defeating Vanko, Stark removed the Whiplash harness's arc reactor and crushed it, rendering the harness useless.
Vanko later used his earlier schematics along with resources available to him through Hammer Industries to create the new Mark II while working on the Hammer Drones.[1] S.H.I.E.L.D. later claimed what was left of the armor and it was studied by a group of scientists.[2]
Alternate Universe Versions[]
Chase of the Maggi Weapons Transport[]
- "Mr. Scarlotti appears to have augmented himself with synthetic muscles, sir."
- ―J.A.R.V.I.S.[src]
In an alternate universe, the Whiplash armor was created by Marc Scarlotti, who was angry with Tony Stark over Stark firing him. The suit augmented his strength, allowed him to have a force field, and created power whips. Stark tracked the Maggia, Scarlotti's employers, to a weapons cache where Scarlotti was. Scarlotti donned the armor and used it to attack Stark. Scarlotti used his force field to prevent Stark from hurting him then disappeared using the whips in his armor to go to the ceiling. He consistently used this technique to attack Stark, but Stark defeated Scarlotti using hand-to-hand combat.[3]
Capabilities[]
- "Pretty decent tech. Cycles per second were a little low. You could have doubled up your rotations. You focused the repulsor energy through ionized plasma channels. It’s effective. Not very efficient. But it’s a passable knock-off."
- ―Tony Stark[src]
The Whiplash Mark I armor was designed as little more than a rudimentary harness with the sole purpose of being used as a weapon to kill Tony Stark, even if suited up as Iron Man. The central piece of the harness is an Arc Reactor, developed by Ivan Vanko, based on blueprints left to him by his father. The harness substitutes Tony Stark's palm repulsor technology used in his Iron Man suits with Vanko's custom designed electrified whips made from specially designed cables which channel the energy produced by the arc reactor. The whips can cut through almost any metal, ignite flammable substances like fuel, and even be used defensively by repelling Iron Man's repulsor blasts.
While the harness covers part of the user's chest, arms, and back, it can easily be concealed under various forms of clothing while deactivated, with the whip cables concealed in the arm sections. This allows the user to appear inconspicuous to others and get close to an enemy before revealing the weapon's presence. However, due to exposed wiring on the harness, it is impossible to do so while the harness is in use because the wearer's shirt is burned by the heat produced by the harness.
The harness' main weakness is the exposed arc reactor which can easily be removed if the opponent gets close enough, rendering the device useless. Tony described the electric whips as an effective "knock-off" of his repulsor technology, albeit less efficient in the long run.
Alternate Versions[]
| Origin | Status | Creators | Owners | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hammer Industries Monopolization Scheme | Active | Ivan Vanko † | Ivan Vanko † | Ivan Vanko † |
| Whiplash Badlands Battle | Active | Ivan Vanko † | Ivan Vanko † | Ivan Vanko † |
| Ultimo Badlands Battle | Active | Ivan Vanko † | Ivan Vanko † | Ivan Vanko † |
| Grand Prix Front Row Attack | Active | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko |
| Underground Whiplash Base | Active | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko |
| Iron Man 2: The Junior Novel | Destroyed | Ivan Vanko † | Ivan Vanko † | Ivan Vanko † |
| Iron Man 2: Meet the Black Widow | Active | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko |
| Iron Man 2: Iron Man vs. Whiplash | Active | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko |
| The Avengers: The S.H.I.E.L.D. Files | Active | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko |
| The Avengers: Iron Man Mark VII | Active | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko |
| Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One Book Boxed Set | Active | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko | Ivan Vanko |
Appearances[]
| Appearances for the Whiplash Armor: Mark I |
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In chronological order:
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References[]
External Links[]
| Armors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Man | |||
| Mark I • Mark II • Mark III • Mark IV • Mark V • Mark VI • Mark VII Iron Legion Mark VIII • Mark IX • Mark X • Mark XI • Mark XII • Mark XIII • Mark XIV • Mark XV • Mark XVI • Mark XVII • Mark XVIII • Mark XIX • Mark XX Mark XXI • Mark XXII • Mark XXIII • Mark XXIV • Mark XXV • Mark XXVI • Mark XXVII • Mark XXVIII • Mark XXIX • Mark XXX Mark XXXI • Mark XXXII • Mark XXXIII • Mark XXXIV • Mark XXXV • Mark XXXVI • Mark XXXVII • Mark XXXVIII • Mark XXXIX • Mark XL • Mark XLI Mark XLII • Mark XLIII • Mark XLIV • Mark XLV • Mark XLVI • Mark XLVII • Mark XLVIII • Mark L • Mark LXXXV Other Armors Classic Mark I • Classic • Stealth • Underwater • Sakaarian | |||
| Iron Monger | |||
| Mark I | |||
| War Machine | |||
| Mark I • Mark II • Mark III • Mark IV • Mark V • Mark VI | |||
| Whiplash | |||
| Mark I • Mark II | |||
| Spider-Man | |||
| Spider-Man Suit • Iron Spider Armor | |||
| Rescue | |||
| Mark XLIX Iron Man Armor | |||
| Ironheart | |||
| Mark I • Mark II • Mark III | |||
| HYDRA Stomper | |||
| Mark I • Mark II | |||