Doc Savage, whose real name is "Clark Savage, Jr.", also known as "the Man of Bronze", is a physician, surgeon, scientist, adventurer, inventor, explorer, researcher, and musician — a Renaissance man. A team of scientists (assembled by his father) trained his mind and body to near-superhuman abilities almost from birth, giving him great strength and endurance, a photographic memory, mastery of the martial arts, and vast knowledge of the sciences. Doc is also a master of disguise and an excellent imitator of voices, though he admits to having trouble with women's voices. "He rights wrongs and punishes evildoers." 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 resides on the top (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, reached from his home by a pneumatic-tube system called the 'flea run'. He sometimes retreats to his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic--which predates Superman's similar hideout of the same name. All of this is paid for with gold from a Central American mine given to him by the local Mayans in the first Doc Savage story. (Doc and his assistants learned the little-known Mayan dialect of this people, allowing them to communicate privately when others might be listening.)

Doc's strangest quality is his hypnotic eyes, which seem to be stirring flake-gold.

Doc's companions in his adventures (the "Fabulous Five") are:

 Industrial chemist Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Blodgett "Monk" Mayfair and his pet pig, Habeas Corpus. Monk got his name from his simian appearance, notably his long arms, and was covered with red hair.

 Lawyer Brigadier General Theodore Marley "Ham" Brooks and his pet monkey, Chemistry. Ham (the shyster, as Monk referred to him) got his name after teaching Monk some French swear words to innocently use on a French general. Shortly afterwards, a large joint of ham went missing and turned up among Brooks' things, so he was blamed and got that nickname.

 Construction engineer, Colonel John "Renny" Renwick. Renny had fists like buckets of gristle and bone and no wooden door could withstand them.

 Electrical engineer Major Thomas J. "Long Tom" Roberts. "Long Tom" got his nickname from an incident with a World War I cannon of that nickname. Long Tom was a sickly-looking character, but fought like a wildcat.

Archaeologist and geologist William Harper "Johnny" Littlejohn, Johnny used long words ("I'll be superamalgamated!" was a favorite saying). Johnny wore a monocle in early adventures (one eye having been blinded in World War I). Doc later performed corrective surgery. In later stories, a number of the aides were working elsewhere so could not go on adventures, and finally it was just Monk and Ham. There was always banter between the two of them, particularly when a pretty young girl was present and Ham talked of Monk's (fictitious) thirteen half-wit children.

Doc's cousin Patricia "Pat" Savage, who has Doc's bronze skin, eyes and hair, also joins Savage for many of his 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.