Editing Doc Savage (section)

==Fictional character biography==
A team of scientists assembled by his father deliberately trained his mind and body to near-[[superhuman]] abilities almost from birth, giving him great strength and endurance, a [[photographic memory]], a mastery of the [[martial arts]], and vast knowledge of the sciences. Doc is also a master of disguise and an excellent imitator of voices. He is a [[physician]], scientist, adventurer, detective, inventor, explorer, researcher, and, as revealed in ''The Polar Treasure'', a musician. Dent described the hero as a mix of [[Sherlock Holmes]]' deductive abilities, [[Tarzan]]'s outstanding physical abilities, [[Craig Kennedy]]'s scientific education, and [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s goodness. He also described Doc Savage as manifesting "[[Christ]]liness." Doc's character and world-view is displayed in his oath, which goes as follows:<ref>{{Cite web | title=How I Met Doc Savage | url=http://www.micahwright.com/savage.htm | access-date=May 22, 2007 | work=MicahWright.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070506135859/http://www.micahwright.com/savage.htm | archive-date=May 6, 2007 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{Pull quote|Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it. Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.}}

By the third story, Doc already has a reputation as a "superman".<ref>"Ham knows a person who is just what we need&nbsp;— a superman!"  ''Quest of the Spider'', Bantam edition, May 1972, reprinting ''Doc Savage Magazine'' of May 1933, page 3.</ref>

===Doc Savage's aides===
Savage is accompanied on his adventures by up to five other regular characters (referred to in the 1975 movie and in marketing materials from the Bantam Books republication as "The Fabulous Five"), all highly accomplished individuals in their own right.

* [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Andrew Blodgett Mayfair|Andrew Blodgett "Monk" Mayfair]], an [[chemist|industrial chemist]]. Monk got his nickname from his [[simian]] build, notably his long arms, and his covering of red hair. He is in a constant state of "friendly feuding" with "Ham" Brooks. This began when his friend taught him some [[French language|French]] words to say to an officer and Monk repeated them, not knowing they were a string of insults. The result was a lengthy stay in the guardhouse.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
* [[Brigadier General]] [[Theodore Marley Brooks|Theodore Marley "Ham" Brooks]], an accomplished [[Lawyer|attorney]]. Ham is considered one of the best-dressed men in the world, and as part of his attire, carries a [[sword cane]] whose blade is dipped in a fast-acting [[anesthetic]]. His nickname was acquired when Monk, in retaliation for his guardhouse incarceration, framed Brooks on a charge of stealing hams from the commissary. In the only case which Ham ever lost, he was convicted of stealing the hams.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
* [[Colonel]] [[John Renwick (Doc Savage)|John "Renny" Renwick]], a [[civil engineer|construction engineer]]. Renny is a giant of a man, with "fists like buckets of gristle and bone." His favorite pastime is knocking the panels out of heavy wooden doors. He always wears a look of depression, which deepens the happier he grows. His favorite—and frequently used—expression, is "Holy Cow!"{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
* [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[Thomas J. Roberts|Thomas J. "Long Tom" Roberts]], an [[electrical engineer]]. "Long Tom" got his nickname from using an antiquated cannon of that nickname in the successful defense of a French village in World War I. Long Tom was a sickly-looking character but fought like a wildcat.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
* [[William Harper Littlejohn|William Harper "Johnny" Littlejohn]], an [[archaeologist]] and [[geologist]]. Johnny has an impressive vocabulary, never using a small word when a big one could suffice. ("I'll be superamalgamated!" is a favorite expression.) Johnny wore eyeglasses with a magnifying lens over his left eye in early adventures—that eye having been damaged in World War I.<ref name=LostOasis>{{Cite book | first=Kenneth | last=Robeson | url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/the_lost_oasis_a03.html | title=The Lost Oasis: A Doc Savage Adventure | publisher=Bantam Books | year=1965 | isbn=978-0-553-06357-8 | access-date=August 8, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918092323/http://isbndb.com/d/book/the_lost_oasis_a03.html | archive-date=September 18, 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Doc later performed corrective surgery that restored Johnny's sight in that eye,<ref name=Manwhoshook>{{Cite book | last=Robeson | first=Kenneth | url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/man_who_shook_the_earth_doc_savage_43.html | title=The Man Who Shook the Earth: A Doc Savage Adventure | publisher=Bantam Books | year=1969 | isbn=978-0-553-04761-5 | access-date=August 8, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016140900/http://isbndb.com/d/book/man_who_shook_the_earth_doc_savage_43.html | archive-date=October 16, 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref> but Johnny retained the magnifier as a monocle for use both as a [[magnifying glass]] and as a memento.

In later stories, Doc's companions become less important to the plot as the stories focus more on Doc. The "missing" characters are explained as working elsewhere, too busy with their own accomplishments to help. Toward the end of the series, usually only Monk and Ham appear with Doc.

Doc's cousin [[Patricia Savage|Patricia "Pat" Savage]], who has Doc's bronze skin, golden eyes, and bronze hair, also is along for many of the adventures, despite Doc's best efforts to keep her away from danger. Pat chafes under these restrictions, or indeed any effort to protect her simply because she is female. She is also able to fluster Doc, even as she completely charms Monk and Ham.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

===The 86th Floor===
Doc's office is on the 86th floor of a New York City skyscraper, implicitly the [[Empire State Building]], reached by Doc's private high-speed elevator. Doc owns a fleet of cars, trucks, aircraft, and boats which he stores at a secret hangar on the [[Hudson River]], under the name ''The Hidalgo Trading Company'', which is linked to his office by a pneumatic-tube system nicknamed the "flea run". He sometimes retreats to his Fortress of Solitude in the [[Arctic]], which pre-dates [[Superman]]'s similar [[Fortress of Solitude|hideout of the same name]].  The entire operation is funded with gold from a [[Central America]]n mine given to him by the local descendants of the [[Maya people]] in the first ''Doc Savage'' story. (Doc and his assistants learned the little-known [[Mayan languages|Mayan language]] of this people at the same time, allowing them to communicate privately when others might be listening.){{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

===Technology===
Lester Dent kept current with the scientific developments of his era. While some of Doc's gadgets were simply science fiction many of his 'futuristic' devices were actual inventions, or ideas engineers were attempting to produce. Futuristic devices described in the series include the [[flying wing]], the [[answering machine]], [[television]], [[automatic transmission]], [[night vision goggles]], electromagnetic [[Railgun|rail guns]], and a hand-held [[automatic weapon]],  known variously as the [[machine pistol]], the supermachine pistol, or the rapid-firer.  A wide range of ammunition types were used for the machine pistols, including incendiary bullets that smash on contact, coating the target with a high-temperature paste-fed fire, high explosive bullets able to uproot trees, ordinary lead bullets, and the sleep-inducing "mercy bullets".{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Doc also developed an automated typewriter.

===Villains===
Doc's greatest foe, and the only enemy to appear in two of the original pulp stories, was the Russian-born [[John Sunlight]], introduced in October 1938 in the ''Fortress of Solitude''. Early villains in the "super-sagas" were fantastic schemers bent on ruling the world. Later, the magazine was retitled ''Doc Savage, Science Detective'', and Doc dealt with more conventional criminal organizations.  The super-saga was revived in 1948 by new editor [[Daisy Bacon]] shortly before the final cancellation of the magazine. In a September 20, 1948, letter to [[Lester Dent]], Bacon wrote "As long as we are dropping the science detective and returning to just Doc Savage, I think we should return to a real adventure story..."<ref>https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/c3071 – Listing of Lester Dent Papers, 1924–1984 @ The State Historical Society of Missouri, Folder 23, Correspondence Aug-Dec 1948</ref>

A key characteristic of the Doc Savage stories is that the threats, no matter how fantastic, usually have a rational explanation. For example, a giant mountain-walking spider is revealed as a blimp, a scorching death comes from super-charged electric batteries, a "sea angel" is a mechanical construct towed by a submarine, Navy ships sunk by a mysterious force are actually sabotaged, and so on.  But Doc Savage also battles invisible killers, a murderous teleporter, and superscientific foes from the center of the Earth.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

In earlier stories, some of the criminals captured by Doc receive "a delicate brain operation" to cure their criminal tendencies. These criminals return to society, unaware of their past, to lead productive lives. The operation is mentioned in [[Truman Capote]]'s novel ''[[In Cold Blood]]'', as an older Kansan recalls Doc's "fixing" of the criminals he had caught.<ref>(1966 ed. p307)</ref>