Mark XXXIV - Southpaw

The Mark XXXIV (Mark 34), also known as "Southpaw", is a Disaster Rescue Suit Prototype, 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 activated along with all the other suits to aid Tony in his battle against Aldrich Killian.

The suit earned its name "Southpaw", because of its left-handed claw, which is derived from the term "Southpaw", meaning left handed, literally, as well as its similar appearance to a pirate, because of its left-handed claw that somewhat resembles the hook of a pirate.

It was built as a prototype of the Mark XXXV, and was the first Disaster Rescue Suit built by Tony, to handle disaster involved situations. It was later succeeded by the Mark XXXV, which was a complete version of the suit, having a single claw on each of the suit's arms, instead of one.

Armor Design
The Mark XXXIV's overall design includes black and silver plates in the armor. It has a large claw-like arm in the left, while the other one is a normal arm equipped with a standard Repulsor. It has large and unique shoulder pads, and a somewhat streamline-like armor body. Most of its design is based off the Mark XIV, with the exception of the large and unique shoulder pads, retractable left claw, and the armor's helmet.

Durability
Since the armor is a "Disaster Rescue Suit Prototype", it can protect its user from various types of natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes. This armor is bullet-proof, just like all of Tony Stark's other armors.

Retractable Left Claw
The Mark XXXIV has a powerful retractable claw on it's left arm, which is used to carry and remove debris.

Donning System
The Mark XXXIV, 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'.

Weaponry
This armor was not made for combat, but rather for rescue missions, but it had an arsenal of conventional weaponry available on most of Stark's armors. Its repulsor rays could be focused into slow moving balls of energy, by the armors claw, that exploded on contact, and it had an average RT beam.

Repulsors
The Mark XXXIV is equipped with the standard based Repulsors used by the previous Iron Man armors. The repulsion system is Repulsion Mark I, and it is used for combat, flight stabilization and destroying heavy objects or debri.

Unibeam
The Mark XXXIV has a standard circular-shaped Unibeam. It is powered by a New Element Arc Reactor Mark II. The armor's arc reactor is surrounded by a thick plated armor in the chest area, which is also painted a dark color, resembling a near black appearance.

The Iron Legion and Creation
Sometime after the Battle of New York, Tony Stark, who was haunted by his near death experience from the event, suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, became paranoid and obsessed with security.

Because of this, Stark began working on the Iron Legion, and through its development, created several Iron Man Armors, from the Mark VIII to the Mark XXXIII all featuring various designs and purposes. After the Mark XXXIII / Silver Centurion's completion, Stark proceeded to working on his next armor, the Mark XXXIV. He built this armor for disaster rescue missions and built a single removable left pneumatic pincher for helping victims that might be trapped under rubble or debris.

It was presumed that the armor was tested a number of times before it was fully functional and ready for combat.

Completion and Storage
After creating the Mark XXXIV 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 XXXIV, he pursued to creating its successor, which was the Mark XXXV, or otherwise known as the "Red Snapper".

Malibu Raid
When Tony's Malibu Mansion was raided, and later destroyed, the Mark XXXIV along with the rest of the Iron Legion were still stored safely within the Hall of Armors Extension, 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.

Activation of the House Party Protocol
The Mark XXXIV 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" issued by Tony. It then flew out of the Hall of Armors and went towards the Roxxon Oil Rig together with the other 35 armors.

Tony then gives J.A.R.V.I.S. the order to "Target all Extremis Heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice.", and JARVIS responds with "Yes sir!", which echoes throughout all of the armors, including the Mark XXXIV. The armor starts targeting and attacking Extremis Soldiers after, and fights them off with the help of the other armors during the ongoing battle. Mark XXXIV, was blown up in the "Clean Slate Protocol" by Tony as a sign of devotion to his girlfriend, Pepper Potts.

Trivia

 * The Mark XXXIV is the first and only armor to feature a single claw-like arm on the left side.


 * The Mark XXXIV is the second armor to feature an irregular left arm. The first being the Mark XXIX.
 * The Mark XXXIV bares a strong resemblance to the Mark XXIX. Their resemblance may not be as noticeable as the Mark VII and Mark XXI, but both the Mark XXIX and Mark XXXIV have Mark VII as their base, irregular left arms and a dark color with a reddish hue in the irregular arms.