Destroyman is a recurring character in the No More Heroes series. In No More Heroes, he is the seventh-ranked assassin in the United Assassins Association, and the fourth boss battle in the game. In No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, he returns as New Destroyman, the eighth-ranked assassin and the eighth boss battle. In No More Heroes III he returns again, as the army of robots Mass-produced Destroyman, and the main body Destroyman True Face, acting as the seventh and eighth bosses.

Appearance and Personality

Destroyman is a muscular man dressed as a superhero. His costume is red, white, and blue, and adorned with stars and a white cape. He has a prominent laser beam emitter placed on his crotch. In his human form he has blonde hair and wears a postman's outfit. In No More Heroes 2, the two halves of New Destroyman's body look mostly the same, only with new robotic halves. The face of his robot half has a demonic appearance, highlighting the split in Destroyman's personality. In No More Heroes III, the Mass-produced Destroyman appears similar to the previous robot halves combined. The head is segmented into movable pieces in the same places that Shinobu previously cut apart one of New Destroyman's heads. Destroyman True Face has a more elaborate design, featuring a cape and a blade mounted into his head. He notably has another demonic face embedded in his torso. The unused concept for Final Destroyman appears very similar to True Face, but is now colored black and red with four arms. The demonic red face in its body is also more prominent.

Destroyman has a deceitful and sadistic personality. He presents himself as an upstanding and courteous man, which is simply a front he uses to catch his enemies off-guard. Destroyman takes great joy in causing others pain, but keeps this sadistic personality bottled up at times. As New Destroyman, his two personality types seem to be split between his two halves, with one being much more rude than the other. In No More Heroes III, he begins to view himself as a superhero with the goal of removing evil from the world, and is said to have the new goal of world domination. However, his childish and vindictive nature can still be seen.

History

Backstory

Destroyman, real name John Harnet, is an assassin ranked seventh in the United Assassins Association, who had recently started working as a postman. His alter-ego of Destroyman is based on an in-universe film of the same name, said to be a self-financed movie with a cult following.

No More Heroes

Destroyman first appeared in a blood-soaked room at Bear Hug Studio, when Travis Touchdown arrived for their ranked match. He apologized to Travis, complaining about having to deal with customers that made complaints. He asked Travis to turn around while he got ready, immediately shooting at him with his lasers as he did, and changing into his superhero outfit. He apologized to Travis again, claiming that he didn't mean to do that. When Travis tried to attack, he stopped him to ask why they have to kill eachother, calling the whole thing meaningless. He agreed to start the fight, and extended a sportsmanlike handshake. However this was a trick for him to electrocute Travis with his Destroy Spark, and he had a fit of laughter in disbelief that Travis fell for it. He launched a series of attacks on the unconscious Travis, and they started their battle. At the end of the fight, Travis impaled Destroyman through the back with his beam katana, and he began to cry for help. After Travis removed the katana, Destroyman smiled and turned around to shoot Travis with his nipple-guns. However Travis was safe between the gunshots and vertically sliced Destroyman in half.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

After his fight with Travis, Destroyman's bisected body was restored, each half receiving a robotic replacement. This new duo became known as New Destroyman, and ascended to Rank 8 in the UAA rankings, hoping to have a rematch with Travis. Instead, New Destroyman fought Shinobu, who had been called by Sylvia Christel to assist Travis. Shinobu arrived in an abandoned warehouse where she met the duo, who questioned why Travis wasn't there and mocked her for being a woman. They attempted to trick her with an electric handshake, but the trick failed when Shinobu ripped off Destroyman's arm. At the end of the fight, Shinobu severed one Destroyman's head and cut it to pieces, before the other half attempted to restrain her. Shinobu broke off her prosthetic arm to escape, and plunged her sword into the top of the other Destroyman's head, spinning around before jumping away as the pair exploded.

No More Heroes III

Destroyman was once again revived, this time as an army of robots with one central body, Destroyman True Face. He became a terrorist, taking money from militaries around the globe to mass-produce himself and take over the world. This caught the attention of the wrestler and superhero Notorious, who aimed to stop him. After Travis's fight with Sniping Lee was cut short by Notorious, a mass-produced Destroyman emerged from a pod on the beach to approach Travis. He offered a handshake again, which Travis brushed off. After some convincing, Travis agreed to shake hands, and was electrocuted again. As Destroyman laughed at Travis falling for the trick, Travis stood up unfazed, immediately slicing open the Destroyman and killing him. More pods appeared, and Travis did battle with the army. Notorious appeared with his Akashic Cannon, wiping out the army and opening a hole in the ground to their underground base. Travis and Jeane descended into the production facility, where they met Destroyman True Face. Destroyman called himself a superhero who destroys the evils of the world, which includes the evil assassin, Travis Touchdown. At the end of the fight, Travis cut Destroyman True Face in half, killing him. This triggered the destruction of the facility, as Travis and Jeane flew away to safety.

Official profiles

Destroyman
Ranked 7th by the UAA
28 years old.
Recently started work as a postman.
Real name is John Harnet.
(No More Heroes: Trading Card No. 139 profile)
Mass-produced Destroyman
Destroyman makes his third appearance - this time in his ultimate evolved form.
With an army of mass-produced Destroymen in tow, he will stop at nothing to stop Travis.
(No More Heroes III site profile)

Trivia

  • Prior to the release of No More Heroes III, concept art was shown of Destroyman's new forms on a Japan IGN livestream. These included Mass-produced Destroyman, Destroyman True Face, and the unused Final Destroyman. According to Goichi Suda, Final Destroyman will appear in an eventual No More Heroes 4.

Gallery

No More Heroes characters
Main Characters Travis Touchdown · Jeane (cat) · Sylvia Christel · Henry Cooldown · Jeane
United Assassins Association Rankings Helter-Skelter · Death Metal · Dr. Peace · Shinobu · Destroyman · Holly Summers · Letz Shake · Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarrskii · Speed Buster · Bad Girl · Dark Star · Travis Touchdown's attacker
Civilians Georgy Bishop · Thunder Ryu · Randall Lovikov · Dr. Naomi · Mask de Uh · Manager of Job Center · Manager of K-Entertainment · Diane
Other Talbot · Weller · M. S. · Mrs. Christel · Jeane (child) · Dr. Letz Shake · Master Jacobs · Wolf Vann
No More Heroes 2 characters
Main Characters Travis Touchdown · Jeane (cat) · Sylvia Christel · Henry Cooldown · Shinobu Jacobs · Jasper Batt Jr.
United Assassins Association Rankings Skelter Helter · Nathan Copeland · Charlie MacDonald's cheerleaders · Charlie MacDonald · Matt Helms · Cloe Walsh · Dr. Letz Shake · Million Gunman · New Destroyman · Ryuji · Margaret Moonlight · Vladimir Taktarov · Alice Twilight
Civilians Dr. Naomi · Georgy Bishop · Ryan Yamazaki · Mask de Uh
Other Kimmy Howell · Mimmy · Quintet · Miike · Talbot · Weller
No More Heroes III characters
Main Characters Travis Touchdown · Jeane · Sylvia Christel · Shinobu Jacobs · Bad Girl · Henry Cooldown · Damon Riccitiello
Galactic Superhero Corps Rankings Mr. Blackhole · Gold Joe · Black Night Direction · Vanishing Point · Velvet Chair Girl · Midori Midorikawa · Sniping Lee · Sonic Juice · Paradox Bandit · Jess Baptiste VI
Supporting Characters Notorious · NT Kamui · Kimmy Love · Native Dancer · Destroyman
Other Dr. Juvenile · Dr. Naomi · Badman · Buzariashvili Bishop · Mysterious Man · Mr. Doppelganger · Bugzaburo · Bugjirou · Ryuichi · Talbot · Weller · Deathman · Miike · Jeane Touchdown · Hunter Touchdown · Jess Baptiste V