Destroyer

The Destroyer was a magical, consciousless entity built by Odin to defend the Asgardian vaults. It will complete any mission given to it without question, regardless of how long the mission or who gets in its way. Its primary weapon are fiery beams of energy emitted from his face, but it also superhumanly strong and nearly invulnerable to damage.

The Destroyer was an emotionless, speechless, order-driven, metal automoton made by Asgardian magic. It is an empty suit of armour which can be controlled when one places their conciousness inside it.

Thor
On the day of Thor's coronation, three Frost Giants sneaked into Asgard's weapons vaults (thanks to Loki) and took the Casket of Ancient Winters. Odin sensed this and had the Destroyer emerge from its resting place to attack the intruders. One of them attempted to use the Casket on the Destroyer, but the armor vaporized all three Frost Giants before returning to its resting place.

Some time later, when Thor was banished due to his actions on Jotunheim, Loki (who was filling in for Odin after falling into Odinsleep) sent the Destroyer to Earth to destroy his brother and everything else that got in the way. The Destroyer passed through the Bifrost Bridge and landed in New Mexico, Earth. Once there it encountered agent Phil Coulson and a team of SHIELD agents but quickly destroyed their cars before moving onto the small town. Once there it went on a rampage on the town but it encountered the Warriors Three and Lady Sif. Volstagg tried to jump it but was smacked back onto a car. But before the Destroyer could kill him, it was stabbed by Sif and briefly taken out of commission.

Once it recovered, it reformed to face Sif and blasted her off of itself. When the four tried to regroup, Destroyer blasted them into different buildings and blasted Volstagg, badly hurting him. Once everyone was at safe distance, Thor himself approached the Destroyer and begged Loki to stop the rampage and take his life instead. The Destroyer powered down its beam but smacked Thor in the face, fatally wounding him. However, as the Destroyer was walking back to the Bifrost site, Mjolnir returned to Thor and restored his powers. The Destroyer tried to blast Thor but was knocked over. Once it came back into commission Thor lifted it off the ground into a tornado. The Destroyer tried to blast Thor, but the god of thunder hurled his hammer though its head, shutting it down permanently.

Fury's Big Week
The Destroyer was collected by S.H.I.E.L.D. after Thor defeated it and is kept in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters. A year later, scientists from SHIELD managed to reactivate the energy of the Destroyer. After that, Phil Coulson ordered them to disband, and it turned into weapons.

The Avengers
During Loki's escape from his prison on the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier, Phil Coulson attacked the Asgardian with a gun made from the Destroyer's body, actually sending the god of mischief flying through a wall on his second attempt, proving its effectiveness.

Character traits
The Destroyer was a mindless weapon, which completes every task assigned by the ruler of Asgard, whoever he might be. It has enormous powers, among which are superhuman strength and durability, energy projection from the head, and the capability of remodeling itself during battle. Once the Destroyer is engaged in a task, it completes it, whatever the cost.

Powers
While not as powerful as the comic version, nonetheless, the Destroyer is one of the most powerful non-living weapons in the MCU. The Destroyer operates at the behest of whomever holds Gungnir, the Asgardian ruler's spear, and can therefore be used for good or for evil depending on who sits on the throne. It can also therefore be stopped by an attack on its vulnerable master. The Destroyer was programmed solely for battle and destruction.
 * Strength: The Destroyer's large size and construction gives it a formidable physical power, enough to bat away a car hurled at it with apparent ease and swat Thor back several feet with one hit (although Thor was temporarily human at the time).
 * Durability: The Destroyer was constructed of alien materials that makes it highly resistant to damage. Even when pierced by an Asgardian lance it was able to continue functioning and remove it from its body and showed no signs of damage from it.
 * Energy Blast: The Destroyer contains Odinforce that can be unleashed through an aperture in its head. When it does this, part of the facial structure retracts downward into the lower face and the energy discharge lances out the orange-white beam. The touch of this beam was enough to blast a car to pieces or vaporize a living being. At full power, it nearly devastated half of a town.
 * Retrograde Positioning: The Destroyer is able to move its armor pieces so that it faces the opposite way without turning around; its back side becomes its front side and vice versa. This was used when Lady Sif drove a lance through its back and the Destroyer positions itself to blast her.

Relationships

 * Odin - Master.
 * Loki - Master.
 * Asgardians - Allies.
 * Frost Giants - Enemies.
 * Thor - Enemy/Former Ally
 * Warriors Three
 * Sif - Enemy/Former Allie

Appearances

 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (2 films)


 * Thor (First appearance)
 * The Avengers (as Coulson's Revenge)
 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (1 comic)


 * Fury's Big Week

Behind the scenes

 * The portrayal of the Destroyer in the movie is a homage to the alien robot Gort from the science fiction cult  The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Trivia

 * S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell mistakes The Destroyer for one of Tony Stark's armors. In the comics Stark designs The Thorbuster armor, a suit modeled after the Destroyer which is to be used against Thor if he becomes a threat to Earth.
 * In the comics, the Destroyer needs a soul to possess it to be activated, like an armor, while in the movie the armor is controlled by the person holding Gungnir, wihout requiring their soul inhabit the armor, similar to remote-controlled cars.
 * The film version of the Destroyer is a lot less durable than in the comics. In the film, the Destroyer is run through with a sword by Sif and later is demolished by Thor at full power. In the comics, it is totally indestructible, only able to be stopped once the person controlling it is.
 * Tony Stark's "Mighty" armor from the ongoing Fear Itself storyline bears a striking resemblence to The Destroyer.