Born in Callander, Scotland, Destro's full name is James McCullen Destro XXIV, and he is Laird of the Castle Destro in the Scottish Highlands. The Destro clan has designed and sold weapons for centuries, and Destro is the faceless power behind their current incarnation—M.A.R.S. (Military Armament Research Syndicate), a state-of-the-art weapons manufacturer and one of the largest multinational corporations in the world.[2] As a businessman, Destro is cutthroat and unyielding and is able to maintain apartments or office buildings in most major cities of the world. His luxurious lifestyle outdoes most oil sheiks or shipping magnates. Destro was an early investor in Macau and has other potentially lucrative speculative real estate holdings in developing areas of the world. War is his business and passion; Destro believes in the spoils of war and the vast wealth M.A.R.S. provides.[2] He hires mercenaries to stir up conflict in dangerous regions, then provides high-tech arms to any side able to meet his price. Continuing a tradition started by the first Destro, he will even sell to both sides of the same war.