Destroyer

Long ago, the alien race of beings called the Celestials conducted genetic experiments on humanity of the planet Earth. The gods that looked after the Earth knew that with the Celestials eventual return, there would be a judgment that would seal the planet’s fate. If humanity was deemed unworthy of life, by the unknown standards of this mysterious race, Earth would be destroyed. The Destroyer was created, by the command of Odin, as a weapon to use against the mighty Celestials. The task was taken on by the finest craftsmen of Asgard, and once finished Odin, Zeus, and all other leading Earth gods transferred a portion of their power into the construct which gave it superhuman strength and energy manipulating powers. Odin then had the Destroyer sealed within a temple within a plateau hoping it would be out of reach of any would use its tremendous powers for evil until the purpose it was designed for could be implemented.

For many years the Destroyer remained lifeless until a vengeful Loki destroyed the plateau to reveal the temple inside. Loki then led a hunter, Buck Franklin, to the Destroyer in order to use the hunter’s life essence to animate the weapon and send it against his hated half-brother Thor. Since the Destroyer is not a living entity, it is not affected by Odin’s magic that anyone unworthy can’t use it as with Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, and it can absorb the life essence of anyone. 

The Destroyer is not a suit of armor that can be physically worn or disassembled. A life force must be projected into the armor in order to animate it which leaves the possessor’s body in a catatonic state. The Destroyer is linked to the body of the individual inside which is why the person does not die due to lack of life force, but if the person’s essence is put back inside its body by a powerful spell directed at the person, the Destroyer will become inanimate once again. By the same token, if the person’s body is killed, the life force will leave the Destroyer and revert it back to its lifeless state. Normally, a person has to be close to the Destroyer and a willing participant to have their life essence transferred into it, but a person’s essence can also be transferred if that person is not mentally guarded for such a transfer. Odin or Loki, however, can make the transferals over great distances due to their proficiency with magic. Also, the Destroyer was given its own intelligence but has been programmed to destroy, so when a life essence is absorbed into the armor, the Destroyer normally takes over and the person inside has no choice but to go along with its programming unless the will of the person is the same as the will of the Destroyer. In Buck Franklin’s case, Franklin and the Destroyer both wanted to destroy Thor, so Franklin’s consciousness acted as one with the Destroyer’s.

Thor and the Destroyer battled within the temple, but Thor emerged victorious when he used Franklin’s body as a shield and tricked the Destroyer into transferring the life force of Franklin back into his body. Thor then rescued Franklin, and destroyed the temple in order to bury the Destroyer under it. This result was not satisfying to the God of mischief, and sometime later, Loki transferred his own consciousness in to the Destroyer while in exile. This time Loki used the power of the Destroyer to go to Asgard and attack Odin. Odin located Loki’s body and forced his life force out of the Destroyer and back where it belonged and into a state of unconsciousness. Again Loki had a plot to use the Destroyer but this time he had Karnilla, the Norn Queen on his side and they used the life force of the goddess, Sif to animate it, and some time after that an accident allowed the essence of Professor Clement Holmes to enter the Destroyer.

Thor finally gave the Destroyer to Galactus to act as his herald, but Loki eventually stole it back to use against Thor in another sinister plot by first using Balder and then Thor, himself, to animate the armor. However, while Thor’s essence animated the Destroyer he was able to gain control of the Destroyer through tremendous will power. Odin has also projected himself into the armor and has taken control but without any struggle making him, Thor and Loki the only individuals that were able to suppress the Destroyer’s consciousness.

Eventually, the Celestials returned to Earth again ready to pass judgment, and that is when Odin thought the time had come for the Celestials to do battle with the Destroyer. Odin transferred all of the Asgardians (except Thor’s) life essences into himself and then into the armor causing it to grow to a tremendous size. Wielding the Odinsword and invading the South American base of the Celestials, the Destroyer could not do much damage to those gathered there despite its overwhelming power.