Dr. Albert Zerstoiten / Doctor Destroyer

An extremely rare photo of Dr. Zerstoiten entering
the Der Riese complex in 1943

THE Big Bad of the TASK FORCE universe until 'Leap Day'

• Badass: orders TASK FORCE to step aside at the climax of 'Extinction Event' because they aren't ruthless enough to fight Mechanon.
• Big Bad
• Comic Book Fantasy Casting: Though he is consistently described as looking like an older Bob Hawkins with his helmet off, Word of God says that he hears him as a German-accented David Warner.
• Crazy Prepared: Used an android duplicate of himself to execute his plan in '72 Hours'
• Curb Stomp Battle: versus TASK FORCE at the climax of 'The Paradox of Doctor Destroyer'
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: Played with in "72 Hours". When the heroes break into his control room with 39 minutes to spare before his Doomsday Device goes off, he advances the countdown 38 minutes and 50 seconds.
  • His AI Sennacherib does something similar in "The Prisoner of Doctor Destroyer" by speeding the countdown to the Resonant Nuclear Disintegrator's triggering up by a factor of 60. The nut didn't fall far from THAT tree...
• Dead Man Switch: His armor served as this for the timed detonator on the resonant nuclear disruptor in his main base Tartarus. The manner in which Ladyhawk and Starforce depowered him at the end of 'Leap Day' (dissolved his powered armor with a specially-engineered nanotech virus) ends up triggering the events of 'The Prisoner of Doctor Destroyer'
• Deadpan Snarker: Surprisingly slips one in on Starforce during their second visit to 1896 in 'Leap Day':

  Starforce (over radio to Dr. Destroyer): "You got theta-bosons to go through time? Wow. THAT explains why their spectrum looks wrong."
  Dr. Destroyer (over radio): "You can even get them to go to other dimensions, too. My facility at Vanshakarana was originally built to explore the Multiverse."
  Starforce (over radio): "I did NOT know that!"
  Dr. Destroyer (over radio): "You should have."

• The Dreaded: Starforce is visibly afraid for his own life when he encounters him out of armor in 'Operation Phoenix'
• Enemy Mine: His alliance with TASK FORCE against Mechanon in 'Extinction Event' might as well be the trope namer.
• Evil is Hammy: No scenery remains unchewed in third person whenever he is present
• Evil Plan: ALWAYS...
• Expy: Of Doctor Doom, except with a less-well developed sense of honor.
• A God Am I: Flirts with this in '72 Hours'
• God Guise: To the people of the Vale of Javangiri (his own personal hidden valley in the Western Himalayas), he is the Avatar of Shiva
• Herr Doktor
• Insufferable Genius: The smartest person in the room, and will never hesitate to point this out.
• Know When to Fold 'em: Thanks to his world-wide teleportation web
• Mad Scientist: of the ex-Nazi variety
• Never Recycle Your Schemes
• No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Does this to Starforce three times:
  • In 'Patron of the Arts', he kidnapped him to provide after-dinner entertainment (and a DNA sample)
  • In 'Operation Phoenix' to congratulate him on winning the Nobel Prize in physics (had he not been in a hurry, he would have accepted the drink Starforce offered to pour him), and
  • in 'Leap Day' in a ploy to acquire the Varanyi medical nanotech in Ladyhawk and Starforce's bodies.
• Oh, Crap: A shared one with his son after Ladyhawk describes his death in the alternate timeline of 'Leap Day'

  Ladyhawk (to Dr. Destroyer, almost babbling): "You fell back on the altar, dying, and... and... and then Bob never existed!"
  (with a wail, she collapses into Bob's arms, sobbing. Bob and Doctor Destroyer look at each other for a long moment)
  Starforce (quietly): "We have to keep that from happening."
  Dr. Destroyer: "Agreed."

• Omnidisciplinary Scientist
• Powered Armor: He builds THE most sophisticated battlesuits in the TASK FORCE universe.
• Robot Master: Destroids, Android duplicates, artificial intelligences... only Mechanon can match him
• Sacred Hospitality: Horribly and almost apologetically subverted in 'Leap Day' when he attempts to poison Ladyhawk and Starforce in order to harvest their Varanyi nanotechnology.
  • Well, he was trying to be humane about it considering they had just rescued him from being stranded in the past...
• Sadistic Choice: Does this to Starforce in 'The Battle of Detroit' after Starforce pwns him with one shot mid-battle:

  (Starforce blurs and reappears hovering over Dr. Destroyer just as he is recovering from being CON-stunned)
  Dr. Destroyer (shaking his head as he tries to get up): "Wo hast du so viel Macht?" /*Where did you get that much power? */
  Starforce (coldly, forcebeams warming up for a pushed discharge): "Frag Satan, wenn Sie in der Hölle kommen." /* Ask Satan when you arrive in Hell */
  Dr. Destroyer (pointing to the Asteroid Scoop's control panel through the hole he just made in the wall): "Then let me be quick, Herr Starforce. You can kill me, or you can save Detroit. Your choice."
  (tense pause, finally punctuated by the massed wave of superhumanity catching up with them)
  Starforce (shutting down forcebeams): "Damn you."
  (Starforce flash-steps back to the Asteroid Scoop's control panel. Destroyer chuckles evilly as he gets to his feet again and prepares to resume battle)

• The Sociopath: Exhibits ALL the traits listed under this trope, at the high-functioning end of the definition
• Take Over the World: His ongoing and overriding goal, at which he actually succeeded for four months in 1984 ('Reign of the Destroyer')
• Third-Person Person. Not all of the time, but frequently enough to be annoying.
• 24-Hour Armor: His battlesuit has all but become this by 'Leap Day'
• Villainous Rescue: Does this to Bob Hawkins and Judith Shapiro in 'Extinction Event'
• Wicked Cultured: Likes his finer alcohol in moderation and plays a pretty mean piano himself
• Xanatos Gambit: Giving his technical database to Bob then having an operative leak the genetic test revealing he was Bob's father during the events of "The Legacy of Doctor Destroyer", as revealed to Julie during their dinner at Vanshakarana in "Leap Day". No matter what happened to Bob, Destroyer still came out ahead.