Ironheart's 10 Worst Defeats In The Comics, Ranked

Every superhero eventually takes a loss. It’s not only part of the process, but it’s part of how the character remains relatable. It’s not possible for readers to relate to people with powers, but everyone can relate to digging deep to find what’s needed to accomplish a difficult goal. That said, Riri Williams wins far more than she loses.

As Ironheart, Riri’s been trained by Tony Stark, who already mastered what she’s trying to do both as a hero and as someone who knows when to do timely upgrades. With the Champions, Ironheart’s learned how to work within a powerful team of next-generation heroes. The losses she has suffered have been rough, and a reminder that every moment in costume requires the absolute best from every hero.

Will O’ Wisp Knocked Ironheart Out Clean

Ironheart losing to Will O’ Wisp might not be her worst loss, but it’s certainly one of her more embarrassing ones. Will O’ Wisp is generally a B-List Spider-Man villain. While Riri was considering the myriad of possibilities of different hero groups chasing after her because of her powers, she ran into the light-based supervillain.

Ironheart’s mind wasn’t on the job, and so Will O’Wisp easily kept her at bay before knocking her out cold. She succeeded in distracting him long enough to keep him from stealing what he was after, but the Avengers had to handle the clean-up.

Ironheart Was Nearly Taken Out By Gangsters

In her recent solo comic, Ironheart saved a local convenience store from being robbed by some gangsters. It’s a fairly routine mission, but while she’s on her way out, the gangsters returned with more help for a revenge drive by.

Having neglected therapy, Riri had flashbacks to when she lost her friend and stepdad to a drive-by. Instead of taking the crooks out instantly, she stood frozen under the weight of her memories. The gunfire nearly destroyed Ironheart’s armor before she snapped out of her daze and fought back.

Midnight Fire Easily Defeated Ironheart In Their Second Match

In the Ironheart solo series, Riri went up against a dangerous terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings. In her first encounter with their assassin Midnight’s Fire, Riri held her own, and even tried to figure out who the enemy was by getting his fingerprints.

In the second attempt, Ironheart wasn’t so lucky. Midnight’s Fire appeared in her own home, prepared for her. Although Riri tried to fight back, Midnight’s Fire quickly defeated her in one-on-one combat. He did allow Riri to live, but only because he wanted to recruit her to the Ten Rings organization.

Riri Williams Quit Being Ironheart When Teen Heroes Were Outlawed

Not all defeats have to be physical, some are more mental defeats. After Kamala’s Law is passed outlawing teenage superheroes, Riri doesn’t exactly have the same reaction everyone else does.

While her fellow champions are eager to keep fighting no matter the consequences, Riri has different circumstances to deal with. Without a secret identity, continuing as Ironheart could’ve led to her being taken away from her mother. Refusing to allow that, she decides to quit for a time, until the other Champions force her back into action.

Ironheart Tried To Kill Viv Vision

Viv Vision helped Riri design her most recent suit of armor, the Ironheart Model 3.0. After Viv surprised Riri with a kiss, however, their relationship suffered, and Riri distanced herself from her friend. While they were dealing with that wedge, Riri found herself attacked by the demon Blackheart.

Emotionally weakened, Blackheart could operate on the rage and frustration Riri felt, causing her to attack Viv and nearly kill her. Later, Ironheart worked alongside other corrupted Champions until the original team was able to free them from their capture.

Ironheart Failed To Stop A Falling Alien Ship

In the pages of All-New Wolverine #19 by Tom Taylor, Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher, Michael Garland, and Cory Petit, Ironheart helped to stop a giant alien ship that nearly crashed into Manhattan. To her credit, she was able to direct it away from the most populated areas of the city, but she was far too late to keep it from crashing.

However, inside the ship was a young alien girl infected with a dangerous disease, who instantly passed away the second she got out of the ship. If that wasn’t bad enough, Ironheart opening the ship exposed the people of Manhattan to the disease, leaving her and Laura Kinney on a limited timetable to keep all the secret agencies from using their considerably more violent solutions.

Ironheart Easily Turned Into A Symbiote

In Venomized #1 by Cullen Bunn, Matt Yackey, Iban Coello, and Joe Caramagna, Ironheart is forced to bond with a symbiote. An army of symbiotes known as the Hive arrive on the planet Earth and immediately began bonding with many of the superhuman community.

Even though all the heroes put up a fight, none of them avoiding being hit with symbiotes and transformed into one of their number. While the heroes eventually defeated the Poisons and got the symbiotes removed, Ironheart had very little to do with the victory.

Ironheart Got Ambushed By A Bunch Of Rats

In Champions Vol 2 #25 by Jim Zub, Sean Izaakse, Max Dunbar, Marcio Menyz, Nolan Woodard, and Clayton Cowles, the Champions are all sent to Weirdworld to search for their missing friend Sam. Although it was meant to be a rescue mission, the second they arrived, all the Champions lost their memories and believed they belonged on Weirdworld.

Everyone except Riri Williams, who remembered who she was. However, her knowledge of who she was didn’t save her from getting ambushed by a group of rats. Ironheart couldn’t fight them off until the fantasy version of Miles, Shadow-Spider-, saved her.

Ironheart Lost A Battle Against Spider-Man

Spider-Man getting a victory over someone that’s more powerful than him isn’t new. It’s kind of his thing. When he appeared at Riri Williams’ doorstep asking for help hacking into Stark Phones, Riri was less than pleased he showed up in costume.

Rather than simply telling him to leave and meet up later, Ironheart tried to attack him. In the middle of forcing him away from her home, Spider-Man webbed her up and left her trapped, allowing him to get free. Fortunately, Ironheart agreed to help him with the phones, and even gave the Web-Slinger a ride home.

Ironheart Was Crushed By Thanos

Riri’s encounter with Thanos is by far her worst defeat in the short time she’s existed in the comics. During Infinity Countdown: Champions #2 by Jim Zub, Emilio Laiso, Andy Troy, and Clayton Cowles, the Champions took on a mission battling against the Chitauri. Their mission offered a partial benefit to Thanos, who mockingly congratulated them.

When Riri attacked out of an attempt to teach Thanos a lesson, he obliterated her suit, an unsurprising result of challenging someone so powerful. Even though Riri bounced back by creating another armor stronger than the last, the trauma has haunted her in the months and years since this event.

NEXT: Ironheart’s 10 Greatest Victories In The Comics, Ranked

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