Destroyer (Thor)
The Destroyer is a weapon that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
The Destroyer was a powerful suit of living armour created by the people of Asgard.
Its origins lay a thousand years ago when the Gods of Earth confronted the Celestials Third Host and failed to stop these cosmic beings. They pledged not to interfere in the Celestials mission but All-Father Odin went before the greatest craftsman of his realm and asked them to build a suit of arms to fight these entities from beyond Earth. This led to the creation of the Destroyer where Odin along with the Skyfathers of Earth's other pantheons bestowed onto it a fraction of their godly might in order to make it virtually all-powerful. The invincible giant-slayer construct was intended to serve as the Gods champion when the Celestials returned a millennium later. (Thor v1 #300)
The armor was later stored away in the Temple of Darkness that was discovered by Loki who used it against Thor. (Journey into Mystery v1 #118) However, the Destroyer began to indiscriminately attacked anything in its path leading to Loki fearing for his own safety and that of Asgard. Thus, Loki contacted Karnilla in order to get her to awaken Odin from the Odinsleep whereupon the Allfather collapsed the temple seemingly burying the Destroyer under the rubble. (Journey into Mystery v1 #119)
When the Celestials returned, Odin absorbed the other Asgardians except for Thor and then entered the armor. The Eternals formed the Uni-Mind and also sought to fight for humanity. The Celestials determined Earth's fate in an area sealed by a dome. The Destroyer had sliced through and the confrontation ensued. With the Odinsword, the Destroyer was able to cut off Nezarr the Calculator's arm, but Nezarr regenerated immediately. Even with its increased powers, the Destroyer was not powerful enough to fight the Celestials and was melted down. (Thor v1 #300) Thor returned to find all the other Asgardians in deathlike comas. Thor was able to convince the other Skyfathers to help him restore Odin, and bravely confronted the Celestials on his own. Gaea and the other Skymothers were successful in recruiting the Young Gods and presented them to the Host. The Celestials deemed humanity fit and left with the Young Gods. (Thor v1 #301)
When the Asgardians resided in Latveria, Doctor Doom sought to learn all the secrets of this race of gods. This led to him secretly abducting and dissecting members of their kind. He also became impressed by the Destroyer armour and sought to replicate creating such a weapon. He could only develop a facsimile but could not replicate the core despite his knowledge of science, engineering and magic. Eventually, he came to learn that the core were the Asgardians themselves. Thus, he used the dissected remains of Asgardians to harvest the energy to make up he core of the Destroyer replica. The people of Asgard later gathered at Castle Doom to recover their people but Doctor Doom unleashed their cybernetic husks against their former comrades. When Thor arrived at the scene, Doctor Doom decided to make use of his Destroyer armour against the god of thunder. (Thor v1 #605) Within it, Doctor Doom attempted to overpower Thor but the Destroyer was shattered by the Asgardian's might with the monarch of Latveria teleporting away from the scene. (Thor v1 #606)
In the aftermath, Jane Foster acquired the power of Mjolnir becoming Thor secretly with none knowing her true identity. This caused Allfather Odin enraged at a usurper taking the hammer and he intended to reclaim it. Thus, he had his brother Cul Borson who had been appointed Asgard's Minister of Justice to recover Mjolnir. To do this, Cul animated the Destroyer armor with his mind and battled the female Thor until numerous heroes along with Asgardians came to support her. This caused Odin to order the Destroyer to retreat rather then continue the battle. (Thor v4 #7)
Cul later brought with him the Destroyer during the assault against the Shi'ar Imperium where it battled the Imperial Guard with Gladiator battling the construct. (Mighty Thor v2 #17)
In the aftermath, Cul kept the Destroyer sated with the souls of others embarking in forced labour to satiate it. During the Mangog's assault on Asgardia, the Asgardians were unable to stem the furious might of their foe. To combat it, Freyja decided to use herself to power the Destroyer that became the vessel of the All-Mother in the fight against their enemy. Despite her great strength, she was unable to vanquish her foe with the Mangog ripping out the arm of the Destroyer whereupon the villain sought to confront Odin himself. (Mighty Thor v1 #703)
During the War of the Realms, the forces of the Dark Council invaded Midgard with the Asgardians attempting to lend their aid to the mortals. In this time, Volstagg decided to use his life force to empower the Destroyer where he battled Kurse in Europe. (War of the Realms v1 #5)
Overview
In appearance, the Destroyer was a large humanoid suit of animated armor with faceless features. (Journey into Mystery v1 #118)
Odin had made the Destroyer to be all-powerful. (Journey Into Mystery #118)
It was said that one could not slay the Destroyer with it being indestructible where the best one could hope for was to stun it. (Journey Into Mystery v1 #119) This was the reason why it was said that the Destroyer could not truly die. (Thor v1 #441)
The Destroyer was capable of acting independently for brief periods. However, typically, it was typically lifeless until animated by the life-force of a sentient living being. Once animated, the Destroyer retains a rudimentary base personality that will eventually subvert the host unless the latter was a particularly strong-willed individual. (Thor v1 #381)
Unlike sentient beings, the Destroyer was capable of lifting the hammer Mjolnir. (Thor v4 #7) This was attributed to it being a creation of Odin and thus enchanted by his magic. (Journey Into Mystery v1 #118)
Users
- Odin Borson :
- Doctor Doom : created a facsimile of the Destroyer powered by the energy of Asgardians he dissected with Doom claiming to had improved upon the design. (Thor v1 #606)
- Cul Borson : animated the armor after being appointed by Allfather Odin to claim back the hammer Mjolnir after a new female Thor began wielding it. (Thor v4 #7)
- Volstagg :
- Loki Laufeyson :
Notes
- The Destroyer was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where it made its first appearance in Journey into Mystery v1 #118 (July, 1965).
Alternate Versions
- In Future Imperfect v1 #4 (2015), an alternate version of the Destroyer appeared in the Battleworld domain of Norseheim in the reality designated as Earth-15513 in the Multiverse.
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Destroyer appeared in the animated television series in the episode "Powerless". Whilst imprisoned on the Isle of Silence, Loki managed to use his life force to animate the Destroyer which he sent to Earth in order to attack the Avengers to get his revenge against them.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, the Destroyer made an appearance as an antagonist in the episode "Itsy Bitsy Spider". It was described as the greatest weapon of Asgard and said to be an Asgardian machine. At some point, it had battled Thor where a Norn Stone became embedded in its chest and the armor fell into the Hudson River. Spider-Man and his S.H.I.E.L.D. team encountered it where they inadvertently activated the Norn Stone turning them into Chibi style toddlers. Loki later took control of the Destroyer Armor and sent it to battle Thor along with other superheroes. After failing to defeat them, Loki decided to put his body into the Destroyer to control it directly as it lacked intelligence of its own. The superheroes later removed the Norn Stone from the Destroyers chest and tricked Loki into reversing his transformation of the heroes whilst he himself was being turned into a Chibi style toddler.
- In Avengers Assemble, the Destroyer appeared as an antagonist in the episode "The Doomstroyer". It was described as a powerful Asgardian superweapon that was animated by another and had been lost for ages. Doctor Doom discovered it after he was stranded in Helheim and animated the armor with his spirit at the Helhorn whereupon he had it return to Latveria. With its power, Doom was able to defeat invading Hydra and AIM forces before the Destroyer engaged the Avengers in battle. To find a weakness in the weapon, Thor brought with him his brother Loki as they discovered that Doom was animating the weapon remotely and that his spirit would eventually dissipate unless he stopped. Thus, Captain America with Falcon accompanied Thor and Loki to Helheim as they sought out Doctor Doom whilst Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk and Iron Man fought the Destroyer in Latveria. After seeing the damage he did to Latveria, Doom abandoned the Destroyer with Loki animating it but before Loki took control the Avengers sent it into orbit where it was powerless in space.
- In Guardian of the Galaxy, the Destroyer featured as an antagonist in the episode "Stuck in the Metal With You". It was placed in the ruins of the planet Retsemaw where it was discovered by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Rocket Raccoon wore the armor where he used it to defeat the Black Order. The armor later possessed him and Rocket was forced to serve Loki as he desired the CryptoCube. It was only with the help of Star-Lord was Rocket able to resist the commands of Loki and defeat him with the Destroyer. After leaving the armor, the Destroyer moved on its own accord to rescue Loki and aide in his escape to Asgard. In "Asgard War", the Destroyer participated in the Asgardian war against Spartax but Loki later commanded it to attack Thor.
- In Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, the Destroyer appeared in the setting of the anime television series.
Films
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Destroyer appeared in the shared continuity setting:
- In Thor, the Destroyer made its first appearance in the live-action film set and had no speaking lines. It was shown as a giant semi-autonomous construct created to serve as a guardian that obeyed the direct commands of the King of Asgard and was placed to protect Odin's vault of relics. It was used by Odin to protect his vault, and did so with cold efficiency during a ceremony when several Jotuns entered the vault with the intent to steal the Casket of Ancient Winters. When Loki usurped the throne of Asgard he took control of the Destroyer and sent it to kill his brother Thor. Temporarily waylaid by several of Thor's friends, it continued its advance through the New Mexico town of Puente Antiguo until Thor stepped forward to face it alone. Thor appealed to Loki through the Destroyer, asking him to take Thor's life, but leave the nearby populace alone. The Destroyer then dealt him a mortal blow, but Thor's act of self-sacrifice caused his lost power to be restored, and with it he turned the suit's power in on itself, damaging it beyond its ability to function.
- In The Avengers, the Destroyer was referenced in the setting of the live-action film. The remains of the Destroyer were salvaged from Puente Antiguo and used to craft a powerful energy weapon by S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists as part of their 'Phase Two' mandate to counter exceptional threats. The gun featured a conventional scope and could power up to discharge potent bolts of fiery energy.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the Destroyer appeared as a boss antagonist in the video game. Loki inhabited the armor after tricking the players heroes into releasing it whereupon he attacked them. It was invulnerable except when tricked into firing its energy blast at a crystal containing Loki's real body.
- In Marvel Heroes, the Destroyer appeared in the MMORPG video game and a Mjolnir wielding Destroyer was present as an alternate skin for Thor.
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, the Destroyer appeared in the video game where it's backstory noted its creation by Odin and various gods as a weapon against the Celestials. It was said that the Destroyer was active when it assumed the life force of another with it being invincible in combat. A Dossier had Tony Stark relating some of the backstory of the construct stating it was created by the Dwarves under the command of Odin. He was able to project his essence into the armor giving him incredible strength and energy projection equivalent to the sun per second. It was buried in a tomb on Asgard.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, the Destroyer featured as a playable character in the iOS game.
- In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, the Destroyer appeared in the setting of the Wii video game. It was a powerful set of armor created by Odin to be the ultimate defense of the realm and required a soul to operate it. When Hydra took over Asgard, the heroes of Earth opposed them leading to the Red Skull being defeated and his ally Hela used the villains soul to animate the Destroyer armor. Within the armor, the Red Skull was unbeatable until All-Father Odin returned and heavily damaged it thus forcing the villains soul to be returned to his body.
Novels
- In What If…Loki Was Worthy?, the Destroyer appeared in the setting of the Random House Worlds novel written by Madeleine Roux. This version of the Destroyer was sabotaged by Loki, causing it to go haywire and kill both Thor and Happy Hogan. The damaged remains of the Destroyer was later used by Tony Stark to create the first Iron Man suit.
Appearances
- Journey into Mystery v1: (1965)
- Thor v4:
- Mighty Thor v1:
- Asgardians of the Galaxy v1:
- War of the Realms v1:
External Links
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