Mark VIII

The Mark VIII (Mark 8), is a Fully Loaded Suit Upgrade, and was the eighth suit created and built by Tony Stark, to surpass the Mark VII, 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 of the other suits to aid Tony in his battle against Aldrich Killian. It was destroyed by Pepper Potts.

The suit was a basic Iron Man suit, like its predecessors. An improved version of the Mark VII, it is equipped with a vast variety of weapons, and is more versatile and maneuverable than its predecessor.

While retaining the famous red and gold color scheme, it has a slightly different appearance from the Mark VII and Mark IV. Having a less bulkier body armour, while having a unique and smooth design on its face plate, a feature that cannot be found in its previous Mark armours

Armour Design
The Mark VIII has the classic red for most of the armour, with platinum for the mask, upper arm, upper leg, hand, and other bits and pieces here and there. It also has extra layers of Kevlar to withstand the force of a small missile.

Donning Systems
The Mark VIII 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 mechanics.

This suit uses advanced technologies based on the Mark V suitcase armour, which makes it far easier to put on. When activated by J.A.R.V.I.S., it can take flight with its repulsor units and fold-out wings. It can flexibly open itself to allow Tony to enter into the suit and automatically wrap itself around him, anywhere at anytime.

Durability
This armour has extra layers of Kevlar to withstand the force of a small missile. This makes the Mark VIII more durable than any of its predecessors. The Mark VIII's armour is tough enough to ensure that a missile can't pierce the armour or its components.

Versatility
Since the Mark VIII was built as an upgrade to the Mark VII, it is more versatile than the previous iteration of battle armour.

Armour Features
The Mark VIII is a less bulky suit than the Mark VII, and is equipped with a detachable backpack, along with much more space for repulsor units and weapons. Its chest piece is circular, like most of Tony's other armours.

Thrusters
The armour also features the same Repulsor powered thrusters as the Mark VII. These thrusters are presumed to be more powerful than the Mark VII.

TBAWeaponry
A forewarning; all remarks on the strength of the Mark VIII's weaponry in this section is speculative, beyond that it is presumed to be more potent than that of the previous iterations of armour.

Repulsors
The Mark VIII has standard based Repulsors. Its Repulsors are more powerful than any of its predecessors.

Unibeam
The Mark VIII has a circular shaped Unibeam. Its Unibeam is more powerful than any of its predecessors.

Missiles
The Mark VIII carries the same shoulder mounted mini-missiles as the Mark VII. It also has one missile on each arm. Its missiles are more powerful than Mark VII's.

Lasers
The Mark VIII is equipped with the same lasers as the Mark VII. These lasers are more powerful than the Mark VII's.

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

Creation and the Iron Legion
Following the Battle of New York, during which Tony Stark helped repel alien invaders alongside the Avengers, Stark gained a greater awareness of the rising threats around him and began creating more Iron Man armors that could collectively help him respond to threats both on or beyond Earth. During this period, Stark prioritized developing and testing a variety of new features and components that would lead to specifically specialized suits that could more appropriately respond to any potential scenario. The Mark VIII introduced external design elements that were later used in the Mark XXX: Blue Steel, Mark XXXI: Piston, and Mark XXXIII: Silver Centurion Armors.

The Mark VIII was built as an upgrade to the Mark VII's deployment and flight systems. It is more powerful and versatile than its predecessor.

Completion and Storage
After creating the Mark VIII 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 VIII, he pursued to creating the next Mark suit, which was the Mark IX.

Iron Man 3
When Tony's Malibu Mansion was raided, and later destroyed, the Mark VIII 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 VIII 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 34 armors. Tony then orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to "Target Extremis heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice.", J.A.R.V.I.S. responds by saying "Yes sir!", which echoes out through all of the suits, including the Mark VIII. The armor then started targeting and attacking the Extremis Soldiers in the Rig, and fought off some soldiers with the help of the other armors during the ongoing battle.

Near the end of the battle, after Tony Stark destroyed the Mark XLII in a failed attempt to kill Aldrich Killian, Mark VIII appeared and targeted Killian and Pepper Potts, since both of them showed Extremis heat signatures. Pepper managed to destroy the armor with a punch through its arc reactor, and used its arm repulsor to shoot at a rocket she kicked toward Killian, finally killing him in the explosion.

Trivia

 * The design accents found on the legs and under the RT Chest Plates of Mark VIII are the current accents of all Centurion Suits and other special armors. Mark VIII was the first platform designed to create future armors like Blue Steel, Piston and Silver Centurion. So this armor was probably a Centurion Suit prototype.
 * The design for the legs and thighs of the Mark VIII are reused in a few armors created after it. These armors include the Mark XIII, Mark XXV, Mark XXVI and Mark XXXII.
 * Months before Iron Man 3 was released, the Mark VIII was confused with the Mark XLII and it was thought that the Mark XLII was the Mark VIII since it appeared numerous times as Tony's new suit in the official trailer of the movie.
 * This is however proven wrong when the suit used by Tony was numbered Mark XLII in the film, while the Mark VIII was a separate suit created by Tony as a part of the Iron Legion.
 * The Mark VIII has a slightly different appearance from the Mark VII. It has a less bulkier body armor.
 * Because of this, it has been confused with the Mark VII especially when it appeared in Iron Man 3 and was about to attack Pepper.
 * Some people believe the the Mark IX attacked Pepper, but if you look at the Mark IX, it has a different helmet design than the Mark VIII.