Destroyer
Asgardian Construct

Powers

Talents

Not Applicable

Contacts

Not Applicable

History

The limits of the Destroyer's superhumanoid strength have never been measured (presumably that stength was greatly increased when Odin projected his and the combined life forces of all the Asgardians into the Destroyer). Because the Destroyer is not itself a living being it is not affected by Odin's enchantment that prevents anyone but Thor from lifting his hammer. The Destroyer can fly through the air through self-levitation. The Destroyer can project bolts of many different types of energy, including an unknown form of energy that can shatter any known substance, including uru, the Asgardian metal from which Thor's hammer is made. The Destroyer can project magnetic energy and flame that can reach solar levels of heat. The Destroyer can transmutate and rearrange atoms and molecules so as to change one form of matter to another. The Destroyer can also alter the density of an object so as to turn solid matter into liquid or vice versa. The Destroyer's most forminable is its disintegrator beam which, is said can annihilate anything. To disintegrate something, the Destroyer lowers its visor; the destructive energy than builds atop the visor and then fires outward from it. The Destroyer cannot fire disintegrator blasts in rapid succession rather it must wait for the disintegrator energy to build up again.

The Destroyer was created little over a thousand years ago by the greatest Asgardian craftsmen on order of Odin, lord of Asgard, to battle the enormous alien Celestials. The Celestials had conducted genetic experimentation on what would become humanity. They intended to return in a millennium, when superhumanly powered beings would have begun emerging in large numbers on Earth, to begin their judgement of the human race. Odin and Earth's other gods were determined to prevent the Celestials from destroying Earth, but the Celestials had demonstrated that the power of even one of their number vastly exceeded those of Earth's gods. Upon the completion of the Destroyer, Odin, Zeus, and the other leading gods of Earth bestowed a fraction of their powers upon it, thereby giving it great strength and energy-manipulating abilities. Once the Third Host had left; Odin concealed the Destroyer within a temple he himself created in Indochina, and then concealed the temple within a plateau. Thus he hoped, the Destroyer would stay out of the reach of anyone who would use it for evil.

The Destroyer remained inert nearly until the return of the Celestials. However, Loki, searching for a means of vengeance against Thor, magically destroyed the plateau concealing the temple within which the Destroyer stood, and telepathically led an unscrupulous hunter, Buck Franklin, to it. Loki caused the unwitting Franklin's life force to enter the Destroyer, and it battled Thor within the temple. However, by using Franklin's inert body as a shield, and by pretending to endanger it Thor bluffed Franklin's consciousness into returning to Franklin's form, by having the Destroyer project Franklins consciousness back into Franklin's human body. Thor then demolished the temple burying the Destroyer within it, rescuing Franklin. Sometime later while in exile Loki projected his own consciousness into the Destroyer and, using its power to travel dimensionsaly, sent it to Asgard to attack Odin. Odin however, locating Loki's body directed a mystical bolt towards Loki's brain, causing Loki's consciousness to be pulled back into his own body and to retreat into unconsciousness.

The Destroyer was subsequently animated by the unwilling goddess Sif in a plot by Loki and Karnilla the Norn Queen, and by Professor Clement Holmes who "entered" the Destroyer by accident. Thor not knowing Odin's plan to use the Destroyer to combat the Celestials, gave the Destroyer to Galactus for use as his his herald, in order to free Galactus's third herald Firelord from his service to Galactus. Loki later stole it from Galactus for use in another plot against Thor, utilizing first Balder and then Thor himself as the animating persona.

By this time the Fourth Host had arrived, and sometime thereafter, Odin decided that the time had come to do battle with them. He therefore withdrew all of the life forces of all the Asgardians except the absent Thor into himself, he then projected this vast collective consciousness into the Destroyer. The Destroyer grew to enormous size and wielding the enormous Odinsword, which was composed of the Rhinegold, invaded the Celestials base, located in South America joined by the eternal Uni-Mind. Yet inconceivably powerful as the Destroyer now was, it was unable to inflict any serious damage upon any of the gathered Celestials, despite its best effort. The Celestials fired bolts of unision at the Destroyer, reducing it to slag, and setting adrift all of the Asgardian life forces. Arishem, the leader of the Celestials on Earth then melted the Odinsword into apparent nothingness.

The Celestials were persuaded to deliver a favorable judgement by Gaea, the elder Earth goddess, when she presented them with twelve noble young humans who had evolved into "godhood," as examples of what humanity was becoming. By gathering mystic force from the other Earth pantheons of gods, Thor was able to ressurect Odin, who in turn revived the other Asgardians.

Later, seeking a means of avenging himself upon a group of Frost Giants, Loki mystically transported the remains of the Destroyer to a place on Earth where he knew the Giants would find it. Loki tricked one of the Giants, Siggorth into stepping onto the remains of the Destroyer. The Destroyer immediately drew Siggorth's life force into it, returned to normal form, and then attacked and drove off the Giants. But the Destroyer then perceived the remains of Thor, who had recently been cursed by the Asgardian death goddess Hela, for a humilating defeat by Thor, so that he was incapable of dying, but also unable to heal from injuries. Thus Thor still lived after his catacylismic battle with Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent, even through his body had been reduced to a pulped mass of organic matter in the process. The Destroyer attempted to annihilate Thor remains (although the Destroyer did not use its disintegration power upon them) but failed. The Destroyer was intrigued, it realized that the body could not be killed. Therefore, if that bodies life force animated the Destroyer, then the Destroyer would be truly invincible, and unable to be defeated, because no one could threaten the body of its animator. The Destroyer therefore drew Thor's life force into itself expelling that of the Giant. However Thor's consciousness overpowered the Destroyer's, and took control of the Destroyer's form.

Thor inhabiting the Destroyer's form, invaded Hela's otherdimensional realm, Hel, and wrecked havok, finally pretending to lose control of the Destroyer's destructive impulses, and threatning to kill Hela herself. Terrified, Hela restored Thor's body to its normal condition and full health. His having plan having thus succedded, Thor revealed to Hela that his consciousness was in control of the Destroyer the whole time, and demanded that she vow to no longer take posession of the souls of the people from Earth, as she had recently done. Hela did so, and Thor's consciousness returned to his body. But on leaving the Destroyer's form, Thor used its power to encase the Destroyer within virtually unbreakable crystal, so the Destroyer could not be used evil. Hela has lifted her curse that made Thor incapable of dying, and unable to heal from injuries.

Background written by Mark Thomas
http://marvelite.prohosting.com/surfer/