Mark XXI - Midas

The Mark XXI (Mark 21), also known as "Midas", is a Fully Loaded High-Altitude Suit, and was one of the many newly-built suits created by Tony Stark sometime after the events of The Avengers.

It was featured in the movie Iron Man 3, and made its debut in the movie when Tony ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to initiate the "House Party Protocol", in which it was was activated along with all the other suits to aid Tony in his battle with Aldrich Killian.

The suit earned its name "Midas" because of its color. Midas is a figure from Greek mythology who was granted the his wish to turn anything he touched into gold. It also has the ability to fly at high altitudes, being designed to withstand low pressure and cold temperatures.

The Mark XXI may have been a prototype of the Mark XXXIX suit as the functionalities that they bear are quite similar. While the Mark XXI has the ability to fly at high altitudes, the Mark XXXIX has a more advanced system, that enables it to venture into space.

Armor Design
The Mark XXI's armor design is based completely off the Mark VII's, except it features a full shiny gold plating made out of enriched chrome Gold Titanium Alloy.

High Altitude Flight
Unlike most of the regular Iron Man armors, the Mark XXXI can fly at very high altitudes. Having specially built to handle more extreme environments in the atmosphere, the Mark XXI's armor can handle extreme temperatures and has more flight power to achieve a higher point in the Earth's atmosphere.

Thrusters
The armor has powerful thrusters equipped on its back.

Donning System
The Mark XXI, along with all the other newly built Mark suits, uses a more advanced technology that was based off on the Mark VII's technology, which is able to wrap itself around Tony's body, without the aid of robotic arms or any external mechanicals.

It can flexibly open itself to allow Tony to enter into the suit and automatically wrap itself around him, anywhere at anytime, much like the Mark XLII's technology and the other newly built Mark suits'.

Repulsors
The Mark XXI has standard based Repulsor technology.

Unibeam
The Mark XXI's Unibeam is circular in shape and is powered by the new and more powerful New Element Arc Reactor Mark II.

Missiles
The armor has a anti-armor missile launcher similar to the one on-board the Mark III's gauntlets, but much larger.

Numerous miniature air-to-air missiles are housed in the shoulder pods, which are a part of the detachable backpack.

The shoulder pods house miniature missiles and can fire up to 92 missiles at once.

More missiles are located inside the legs, presumably for air-to-ground attack when flying horizontally over a target.

Lasers
This armor is equipped with the same lasers as the Mark VII.

Flares
This armor contained numerous infrared flares, another feature common with its predecessors.

The Iron Legion and Creation
Sometime after the Battle of New York, Tony, who was haunted by what happened in New York, got obsessed in making more Iron Man suits. One of them was the Mark XXI.

After creating the Mark XXI suit, he kept it under his house in the place called the Hall of Armors, in where he kept all the other Mark suits that he had created one after the other except for the original 7 Mark Armors. After he was finished creating the Mark XXI, he pursued to creating the next Mark suit, which was the Mark XXII, or otherwise known as the "Hot Rod".

Malibu Raid
When Tony's Malibu Mansion was raided, and later destroyed, the Mark XXI along with the rest of the Iron Legion were still stored safely within the Hall of Armors Chamber, as it was left undamaged during the attack. The chamber was still intact, completely sealed, and concealed from view.

This was part of Stark's plan, in which the Iron Legion was to be used later after he uncovered the truth behind the Mandarin and A.I.M.

The Mark XXI was activated by J.A.R.V.I.S. along with all the other armors in the basement of Tony's Malibu Mansion, under the order of the "House Party" Protocol initiated by Tony. It then flew out of the Hall of Armors and went towards the Roxxon Oil Rig together with the other 35 armors.

When the Iron Legion arrived at the scene, the Mark XXI followed as the armors started surrounding the area. It could be seen hovering next to the Mark XXX and Mark XIX. After the armors finished surrounding the rig, the Mark XXI waited with the other armors for Tony's orders as the Extremis Soldiers stand surprised with the Iron Legion's arrival.

When Tony orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to "Disable all Extremis Heat signatures with extreme prejudice.", J.A.R.V.I.S. replies with "Yes sir!", which echoes throughout all the armors, including the Mark XXI.

The armor then starts targeting and attacking the Extremis Soldiers. It fights them off during the ongoing battle with help of the other armors. The armor never makes an appearance fighting the Extremis Soldiers on-screen. The armor was presumed to have fought and killed several extremis soldiers during the fight, as it was one of the last 21 armors left standing and succeeded in eliminating the remaining extremis forces with the help of the other Iron Legion armors. The Mark XXI then resumes to flying around the oil rig in the aftermath of the battle.

"Clean Slate Protocol"
The Mark XXI was then detonated by J.A.R.V.I.S. for fireworks along with the other 20 armors, under the Tony's order of the "Clean Slate Protocol". This was to show Tony's devotion to his girlfriend, Pepper Potts. It was one of the last suits to detonate.

Trivia

 * The Mark XXI is the second suit to feature only one full color, the first being the Mark II and Mark III (with Gold painting, which was changed to red-gold painting, taken from Tony Stark's Hot Rod).
 * This is the first and only armor to feature only gold in its overall armor plating, making it fairly unique.


 * The Mark XXI's name is derived from "Midas", a character from mythology who wished that everything he touched would turn into gold, hence the armor's color scheme.