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The Destroyer is a series of action/adventure novels with elements of black comedy. It's about a [[Salt and Pepper|bizarre pair]] of [[Charles Atlas Superpower|supermen]] who [[Walking the Earth|stride the earth]] [[We Help the Helpless|righting wrongs]] and [[Weird Trade Union|making a living]] by [[Vigilante Execution|killing people]] who [[Complete Monster|really need to be dead]]. The main characters are Dr. Harold "Emperor" Smith, [[Old Master]] [[Professional Killer|Assassin]] Chiun, and his protege [[Mighty Whitey]] Remo Williams. [[Rule of Cool|Cool]] and [[Rule of Funny|funny]], but ''definitely'' a [[Guilty Pleasure]].
The first novel was written in 1963, but was not published until 1971. The series was originally written by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy, but the new series is written by Warren Murphy and Jim Mullaney. The first series is officially 145 books long, then the authors retitled the series the 'New Destroyer' and switched publishers. The second series is 4 books long so far. The older books in this Action-Adventure/Martial Arts series tend to be hard to find and expensive.
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* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The comic put out by Marvel is even better than the first book.
* [[
* [[Angry Black Man]]: Butler of 12-"Slave Safari" is seeking revenge on the descendents of the families who enslaved his ancestors.
* [[Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?]]: Happens almost any time Remo encounters a girl who believes that the government is doing this figuratively to a minority group and ardently pleads him to do it physically to them.
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* [[Batman Cold Open]]: the second chapter of nearly every novel introduces Remo dealing with low-level criminals. In addition, the second chapter always starts out with "His name was Remo, and..."
* [[BFS]]: The Sword of Sinanju was this at one time
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Usually Remo.
* [[Canon Discontinuity]]. Much of the books published at the end of Gold Eagle's contract are [[Canon Discontinuity]].
* [[Carnival of Killers]]: ''The Last Alchemist'' had an interesting variation of this. [[The Dragon]] as part of his backstory, participated in an open contract on a crimelord. After he killed the target, he was given a job as the personal assassin of the [[Big Bad]] who had placed the contract simply to find a suitable person for the position. The trope appeared in a few other books in the series as well.
* [[Catch Phrase]]: "That's the biz, sweetheart." Also, if you're good enough to kill Remo, "I am created Shiva the Destroyer; Death, the shatterer of worlds! The dead night tiger made whole by the master of Sinanju. WHO IS THIS DOGMEAT THAT CHALLENGES ME?!" may be the last thing you ever hear.
* [[Charles Atlas Superpower]]: Knowing Sinanju allows you to perform a wide variety of feats.
* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: FRIEND and a few people.
* [[Crapsack World]]: Mostly tilts toward this, due to the people Remo deals with.
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Well, Remo certainly kicked his Expy in the face and got away with it.
* [[Does Not Like Guns]]: Chiun, and by extension Remo. They consider them toys for children, not proper weapons for assassins. Considering the abilities Sinjanu mastery has given them, they're right.
* [[Easy Amnesia]]: Remo has a bullet graze his temple in 008 - ''Summit Chase'', leading to multiple Amnesia Tropes:
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* [[Long Running Book Series]]: Hundreds of books...
* [[Lurker]]: Dr. Smith and later Mark Howard.
* [[Master Computer]]: The Folcroft Four and FRIEND.
* [[Master of Your Domain]]: Part of Sinanju is supreme self-awareness, allowing one to do such things as regulate body temperature so as to be comfortable in short sleeves in subzero weather.
* [[Misanthrope Supreme]]: Chiun is bigoted against (in descending order of vitriol) the Chinese, anyone who isn't Asian; any Asians who aren't Korean; any Koreans who aren't from the village of Sinanju; any Sinanju villagers who aren't Chiun.
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* [[Twin Switch]]: Kojing and Kojong, twin sons of a previous Master of Sinanju; their mother feared their father would kill one of them to prevent this trope, so she hid one before he found out they were twins. They subsequently switched places every day of their lives, both learning Sinanju; when their father died, Kojong left the village and swore never to use his art for profit. Kojong wound up {{spoiler|settling in Arizona, and became Remo's ancestor.}}
* [[Withholding the Cure]]: In 016 - Oil Slick, it's implied that the oil companies routinely suppress research into fuel alternatives by killing off scientists.
* [[Yellowface]]:
** Both in the theatrical film and the TV pilot. Really, considering both were produced in the the 1980s and after ''[[The Karate Kid]]'' became a smash hit with Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi, the producers simply should have known better.
** In-universe, when Chiun writes a movie about his life, he claims he wants [[Paul Newman]] to play the part of Chiun with some makeup to "fix his funny-looking eyes".
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[[Category:Adventure Literature]]
[[Category:The Destroyer]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Destroyer, The}}
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