Dark Destroyer

The Dark Destroyer is the main antagonist of the comic 'Atari Force '.

HISTORY
The original Atari Force, a human expeditionary force travelling the Multiverse in search of a new homeworld for humankind, encountered the Destroyer in its original form. They managed to escape the creature, which inhabited the interdimensional space between universes; however, it seemed to track them, as they narrowly escaped an attack by mind-controlled thralls some time later. When the Atari Force encountered the benevolent Custodians, an organization composed of many cultures, the entity took control of their minds as well; after a long and terrible battle, however, the Atari Force managed to destroy the Dark Destroyer.

However, Christopher Champion, the Force's leader, became convinced the entity survived, and was proven correct when, twenty years later, it mounted a new attack on humanity. Champion stole his original ship, inadvertently gathering a new Atari Force around him, to confront the entity.

It was finally revealed the Dark Destroyer had indeed survived the battle, by jettisoning its consciousness in an organic probe which, after years of obsessively hunting, surreptitiously interfered with the birth of Champion's only son; killing the mother, and stealing from her and her husband the genetic material and energy it needed to live again. Gestating inside an alien mother, it grew into a clone of Champion, gathered an army of mind-controlled miscreants about it and set to its ultimate task: destroying. To this end, it mined a core of radioactive material from an anti-matter world to create a bomb capable - it was claimed - of destroying a universe.

Contronting his nemesis Christopher Champion and gloating it would soon destroy his universe and everyone he had ever known, before taking his army on an endless journey of conquest across countless universes, the Atari Force engaged him and his troops in battle; in the melée, the bomb was activated and his enemies escaped, while the Dark Destroyer found himself trapped with his own weapon. The bomb detonated, destroying a universe or part of it and the Dark Destroyer's physical form perished with it.

However, moments before, the entity had transferred part of its consciousness into Karrg, one of its lieutenants, surviving as it had done before. In the mind of this formidable being, it gestated, gradually growing back to full power; but before it could do so, it was once again confronted by a member of the Atari Force - this time on the battlefield of the mind. The psychic doctor Morphea managed to use her natural skills, honed by many mental battles, to drive back and seemingly slay the nascent Destroyer. But some time later, when it became necessary to call up the memory of the entity from Karrg's mind, the physical manifestation of the memory showed every indication that it still survived, even much-reduced, and claimed it would live so long as its hated enemy, Christopher Champion, did.

APPEARANCE
In its original manifestation, the Dark Destroyer appeared as a planet-sized, many-tentacled monster which lived in the chaotic space between universes. This same entity proved capable of entering normal space, settling down on an asteroid.

The Destroyer later cloned a human body for itself to contain its consciousness, which resembled a younger version of Christopher Champion, i.e. a tall, muscular, notably handsome Caucasian man with blonde hair and blue eyes. Given that the original Atari Force were - among other things - selected for physical excellence and that Champion had been an Olympic athlete, it may be assumed the Destroyer realized these qualities to their fullest.

On the psychic plane, the entity appeared as a smaller version of its original form - a cluster of tentacles and almost hair-like fibrils which obscured the central body and lacked any visible sensory organs or mouth. One observer likened the creature to 'a magnified image of a virus'.

POWERS AND ABILITIES
The Dark Destroyer was capable of surviving and thriving in the chaotic space between universes, as well as freely enter and travel between the universes themselves; it was equally comfortable in the radiation and vacuum of space and capable of travelling therein.

It possessed vast mental abilities, capable of taking direct and irresistible control of thousands, if not millions of individuals all at once. Human beings, however, seemed to have exceptional resistance against this influence; the Atari Force members managed to defy its will until the end despite its best efforts, and it required a brain implant to take control of one of their human allies; who was freed entirely of its control once it had been removed.

The Dark Destroyer could survive as a purely mental entity, as well, altough the extent of its power was seemingly linked to its physical properties, as well, since once it was reduced to a psychic form, the alien Morphea managed to defeat it twice.

The entity possessed vast intelligence, knowledge and logistical capacities, capable of not only controlling, but organizing an army of thralls, as well as being able to mastermind the construction of an anti-matter bomb.