THOR
Real
Name:
Thor Odinson
Occupation:
God of thunder, former physician, (as Jarlson) former construction worker, (as
Olson) former paramedic
Legal
Status:
Citizen of Asgard with provisional American citizenship due to his Avengers
status
Identity:
(as a mortal) Secret, the general populace of Earth is unaware of Thor as an
Asgardian god
Other Aliases:
Donald Blake, Donar, Donner, God of Thunder, Siegfried, Siegmund, Sigurd Jarlson,
Lord of Asgard, Jake Olsen; formerly bonded to Eric Masterson
Place
of Birth:
Unrevealed, a cave somewhere in Norway
Marital
Status:
Single
Known Relatives:
Odin (father), Gaea (mother, aka Jord), Frigga (adoptive mother), Loki (adoptive
brother), Balder, Bragi,
Heimdall, Hermod, Hoder,
Tyr, Vidar (half-brothers),
Sif,
Brynhilda and the Valkyries (half-sisters), Modi, Magni (sons, deceased), Thrud
(daughter by Jarnsaxa, deceased), Bor (grandfather),
Buri (great-grandfather, alias Tiwaz), Villi, Ve (uncles), Freia (aunt), Idunn,
Sigyn, Solveig, (sisters-in-law), Hela (niece), Jormungaard, Fenrir (nephews),
Group
Affiliation:
Avengers, Gods of Asgard, former leader of the Godpack
Base
Of Operations:
Asgard and New York City
First
Appearance:
Journey into Mystery #83
Origin: Journey into Mystery #83, Thor #159 and Thor Annual 11
History:
Thor is the blood son of Odin, lord of the Asgardian Gods, and Jord, who is also
known as Gaea, the elder goddess of Earth.. Odin sought to father a son whose
power would derive from Earth as well as Asgard and he sought to mate with Jord.
Odin created a cave in Ancient Scandinavia that would become part of modern
Norway where Jord would give birth to Thor. Months after the infant Thor was
weaned, Odin brought him to Asgard to be raised. From that time onward Odin’s
wife Frigga acted as Thor’s mother. It is not until recent years that Thor
discovered Jord was his mother.
A severed eye of Odin once grew to great size, achieved sentience and informed
Thor that he had existed before on a previous Asgard. This previous Thor had red
hair instead of the blonde hair of the current Thor and had two sons by Sif.
This previous Thor is said to have killed the Midgard Serpent and to have been
killed himself by the dying monster’s venom at a previous Ragnarok, the
destruction of the previous Asgard. Odin was himself killed, but was restored to
life after the few surviving gods of this Asgard, among which was this Thor’s
sons Modi and Magni and a daughter Thrud, gave up their lives to restore him to
life, and it was this new Odin who sired the current Thor.
Possibly these previous versions of Odin and Thor were earlier physical incarnations of
the Odin and Thor of today. However, this account of Thor’s origin by the
severed eye of Odin may well be completely false. The eye’s motives for
constructing such a story, if it is false, are unknown.
The young Thor was raised alongside Loki who had been adopted by Odin after Loki’s
father, the Frost Giant Laufey, had been killed in battle. From, childhood, Loki
was jealous of Thor and his hatred of him grew over the years to a wish to
destroy him. Thus began Loki’s enmity of Thor, which exists to his day.
When Thor was eight, Odin sent him to Nidavellir, the land of the dwarves, to bid the
dwarves, Brokk and Eltri, to create three treasures for Asgard’s ruler. Among
the three treasures that Brokk and Eltri created was the enchanted uru hammer
Mjolnir (although Loki sabotaged the creation of the hammer so that the hammer
would be too short). Odin bestowed various enchantments upon the hammer
including one that made it impossible for anyone to lift it except someone who
was truly worthy of wielding it. Odin then declared that he was reserving the
use of the hammer for Thor who would receive it on the day that great selfless
valor had proved him worthy of it.
For years, Thor strove to become strong and worthy enough to wield the hammer and
was responsible for many great deeds. Finally, when Thor was sixteen, Odin
presented him with the hammer, declaring that he was indeed worthy of it. Thor
became Asgard’s greatest warrior.
Thor’s best friends as he was growing up were Sif and Balder. By time he was twenty, he
had fallen in love with Sif. However, at some point their romance came to an end
although they seemed to have renewed it in recent years.
Sometime in the 9th century A.D., Thor journeyed to Earth for the first time and
regaled in his adventures with the Vikings. They raised him to the level of a god
and started worshipping him as such. Both the Norsemen and the Germans, who called
him Donner, came to worship Thor among all the other Asgardians. Thor actively
encouraged the adulation of his Viking worshippers for years and also encouraged
them to find glory in battle. But finally, Thor discovered that a party of his
Viking worshippers had attacked and slaughtered the inhabitants of a Christian
monastery. Shocked, realizing that some of his more zealous worshippers were
committing other atrocities like this one in his name, Thor started to gradually
withdraw from Earthly activities altogether and allowed worship of the Asgardian
gods to die out.
According to the severed eye of Odin, Odin himself caused Thor to live on Earth
in the mortal guises of the Germanic heroes Siegmund and his son Siegfried. In
these two roles, Thor played a major role in Odin’s efforts to regain the
dangerously powerful Ring of the Nibelung. Siegmund was killed by the warrior
Hunding, but Thor was reborn as Siegfried, the son of Siegmund and his lover
Sieglinde. Siegfried took possession of the ring after killing the giant Fafnir
who had guarded it for years in the form of a dragon. Siegfried then fell in
love with the Valkyrie Brynhilda, but was murdered by Hagen, the son of Alberich,
the dwarf who had created the ring and had placed a curse upon it. Odin, however,
resurrected Siegfried as Thor, who again had his full godly powers, but wiped out
Thor’s memory of these events of his mortal identities. It is unclear how much, if
any, of this account by Odin’s severed eye is true.
One of Thor’s staunchest allies has proven to be the Olympian Hercules. Although
the two gods first met as rivals, Thor won Hercules’ respect by saving him from
Hades, the Olympian god of the dead, and the two have forged a strong friendship.
Hercules is the only Avenger Thor is able to approach as a peer.
Thor led an active, adventurous life in Asgard doing battle with the Frost Giants and
other enemies of the realm, but Odin grew increasingly dissatisfied with
Thor’s headstrong behavior and excessive pride. On one occasion Thor violated
a truce between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants thereby nearly starting a
war. Finally, while Thor was engaged in a brawl in an Asgardian tavern, Odin
summoned him to his presence. Odin had decided that it was time Thor learned
humility. Odin had Thor surrender Mjolnir to him and then sent him to Earth as a
crippled young medical student named Donald Blake stripped of any memory of his
true identity.
After Thor had spent ten years in the role of Blake, Odin placed within Blake’s mind
the suggestion to take a vacation on Norway. There, Blake encountered a party of
alien Kronans, also known as the Stone Men of Saturn. Blake fled from the
Kronans into a cavern, the very same one that had served as Thor’s birthplace
some millennia ago, where Odin had left Thor’s hammer in the in the enchanted
form of a wooden cane. Trapped in the cavern by a huge boulder, Blake struck the
boulder with the cane in frustrated anger and was transformed back into his true
godly form as Thor. As Thor, he escaped the cavern and drove off the Kronans.
At first, Thor still had no memory of his past life as an Asgardian god, although
as months passed, more of his memories returned. Finally, a few years later,
Odin revealed to him the false nature of the Blake identity and the reason for
it.
Thor maintained his Blake identity on Earth and continued his medical practice. Part
of his affinity for Earth was his subconscious realization that his maternal
heritage was on this world. The other part was simply his love for humanity and
his need to experience those things that only mortals could know. Thor came to
divide his time between Asgard and Earth and continued it for many years.
For years Thor was in love with Jane Foster who had worked as a nurse for Blake.
Odin disapproved of Thor’s love for this mortal woman but eventually the
romance between Thor and foster came to an end, and Thor renewed his past
relationship with Sif. That relationship has suffered strains in recent years
and it is unclear what path it might take in the future.
Thor was a founding member of the team of superhuman champions known as the Avengers
and has continued to serve with the team from time to time to the present.
Eventually, Thor outgrew his need for a dual identity and gave up his identity of
Don Blake. In fact, Odin transferred the enchantment enabling Thor to change to
mortal form and back again to that of his ally and alien counterpart, Beta-Ray Bill.
With the aid of Nick Fury, Public director of SHIELD, Thor has adopted a second
mortal identity as construction worker Sigurd Jarlson. Thor does not actually
become a mortal in his Jarlson identity; he simply dresses as a normal
contemporary Earthman and wears glasses.
Thor eventually grew a beard to conceal terrible scars he had gained on his face
due to wounds inflicted by the Asgardian goddess of the dead, Hela. The wounds
eventually healed under the beard, which Thor kept for a while until it started
to bother him and he had it shaved.
After Odin disappeared during his battle with Surtur, the people of Asgard wished
to make Thor, Odin’s designated heir, their new ruler. Realizing the duties would
obviously curtail his duties and responsibilities on Earth, Thor declined the
offer and instead nominated his friend and half-brother Balder the Brave to be
Asgard’s ruler. Odin, however, subsequently turned up as a prisoner of Seth,
the Egyptian god of death, who sought to conquer Asgard, and resumed his role as
ruler of Asgard.
For a while, Thor was merged with the human Eric Masterson, an architect who first
met Thor as Jarlson. The two of men would exchange bodies using Mjolnir, as Thor
had done before as Blake. After Loki attempted to kill Susan Austin, the woman
who cared for Eric’s son, Thor became furious and slew Loki. As punishment, he
was exiled from Earth and Eric Masterson was given Thor’s power to continue in
the role of Thor on Earth. Eventually, after Loki reappeared, Eric was able to
find Thor, who had been hidden within Eric’s own subconscious, and rescued
him from exile.
Eric had proven himself to be a hero in his own right, and Odin rewarded him with
the enchanted mace Thunderstrike. Taking Thunderstrike as his alias, Eric continued
to serve as a hero on Earth until he died heroically while battling the Egyptian
death god Seth. Thor grieved for Eric, who had been one of the closest friends
he had made amongst humanity.
Odin and Thor eventually learned that the constant shift in identity and sharing of
power which Odin had encouraged had resulted in Thor becoming insane, marked by
the appearance of a Valkyrie who was a manifestation of Thor’s insanity. With
the assistance of Adam Warlock and Dr. Strange, Thor regained his sanity, and
Odin came to realize the error he had made.
Once again attempting to thwart Ragnarok, Odin attempted to trick the world-ash
tree Yggdrasil into believing that Ragnarok had already happened. To do so, the
Asgardians were transformed into mortals so that they would not be recognized as
gods. Odin’s plan had been that Thor would restore the Asgardians to normal,
but Price, an agent of Seth, accidentally prematurely activated the plan.
Compounding the situation, Thor disappeared while battling the Onslaught entity,
and wound up on the new Counter-Earth created by Franklin Richards. By the time
Thor returned to Earth, the Asgardians had managed to regain their identities,
but were left in a weakened state to be captured by the Dark Gods. Ultimately,
Thor rescued his people from the Dark Gods with the aid of Hercules and the
Destroyer.
After a paramedic named Jake Olson was slain during a battle between the Avengers
and the Destroyer, Marnot, a servant of Odin, gave Thor Olson’s mortal form as a
new identity. Although Thor could assume Olson's mortal form, he had none of his
memories, and found this identity to be a trouble for him as he stumbled through
events in Olson’s life with no memories of them. He also re-encountered Jane
Foster while in this identity, and there were brief sparks rekindled between the
two. Odin finally separated Olson from Thor, and Olson was allowed to return to
his own life.
After Odin fell in a rekindled battle against Surtur, Asgard was left without a ruler.
Thor eventually came to reluctantly accept the throne of Asgard, and assumed his
father's Odin-Power, becoming much more powerful. Thor determined to restore the
gods of Asgard to their place on Earth as beings to be worshipped, and moved
Asgard into the Earth’s plane of existence in order to bring about the level
of peace on Earth he had always desired. Thor's increased activity on Earth
resulted in a resurgence of followers for the Asgardians, and a Church of Thor
soon emerged. Many human beings, however, grew increasingly intimidated by
Thor’s strong-armed new regime and began striking out at supporters of the new
Asgardian religion. Thor's willingness to fight for the lives of his followers
eventually set him against his fellow Avengers when he attempted to overthrow
the government of Slokovia. The U.S. Government retaliated by ordering separate
missile strikes on Thor and Asgard, but the damage from Asgard’s destruction
resulted in the complete devastation of New York City and the deaths of its
countless heroes, many of whom had been close friends and Allies of Thor.
Surviving the nuclear blast meant to kill him, Thor realized that mortal man
could not have control of their destiny and rebuilt Asgard on Earth completely
dictated by his whims and beliefs. Supported by Loki, he brought about a certain
utopia with the gods and left mortals with few liberties under this new regime.
However, this alternate future was attacked by Thor’s old enemy, Desak the God
Slayer who showed Thor that by controlling the destiny of mortals that he had
robbed them of their full potential. He corrected his error by reaching back in
time, and altering events that this timeline never occurred (although it is
speculatory it might still exist in one of innumerable alternate realities or
Else-Worlds). As a side result of these actions, Loki set the motions for a
revised Ragnarok to occur. Thor realized that the mysterious Those Who Sit Above
In Shadow were responsible for keeping Asgard in this repeating cycle of
Ragnarok and gave his life to destroy them as yet another Twilight of the Gods
claimed the Nine Worlds. Thor, Odin and the Asgardians were restored some time
thereafter through the Odin-Force taking the manifestation of a young Asgardian.
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 640 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Strength
Level: Thor possesses Class 100 strength enabling him to lift (press) over 100 tons
under optimal conditions.
Known
Superhuman Powers:
Thor
possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Asgardian Gods, but as son
of Odin, lord of the Asgardians, and Jord, elder goddess of the Earth, his
strength endurance and resistance to injury are greater than that of any other
Asgardian. Like all Asgardians, he is extremely long-lived (thought not immortal
in the same sense of the Olympian Gods). Like all Asgardians, he has superhuman
strength (the average Asgardian male can lift 30 tons over his head; Thor can
lift 100 tons above his own) and stamina and is immune to all known terrestrial
diseases and is invulnerable to conventional injury. If wounded, his godly life
force would enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury
of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily molecules to
cause him a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for Odin or a number
of gods of equal power working together to revive him. His own Asgardian
metabolism gives him far greater than human endurance in all physical
activities. (Asgardian flesh and
bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the
superhuman strength and weight of the Asgardian race.)
As
Lord of Asgard, Thor possessed the Odin-Force, which enabled him to tap into
near-infinite resources of cosmic and mystical power, enhancing all of his
abilities. With the vast magical power of the Odin-Force, Thor was able to dent
even Captain America’s shield with Mjolnir. He no longer retains these powers.
Abilities:
Thor is trained in the arts of war, being a superbly skilled warrior, highly
proficient in hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship, and hammer throwing. Due to
his years as the mortal Dr. Donald Blake, Thor also has considerable expertise
in medicine.
Weaponry:
Thor’s principal weapon is his enchanted hammer named Mjolnir, one of the most
formidable weapons to man or god. Forged out of the mystical metal uru by the
Dwarves Brokk and Eitri of Nidalvellir, whose chief properties are durability
and the ability to maintain enchantment, the hammer is two feet long and its
handle is wrapped in leather, which terminates in a thong. Besides being a
indestructible throwing weapon, the hammer has been given six enchantments by
Odin to augment its physical qualities.
The
first enchantment is that no living being can lift the hammer from the ground
unless he or she is worthy. Hence, so far, only Odin, Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Eric
Masterson, Red Norvall, Tiwaz, Captain America, Wonder Woman and Superman
(albeit briefly) have been able to lift Mjolnir. Apparently no one without
superhuman strength can lift the hammer, whether he or she is worthy or not. In
some instances, though, beings of considerably mystical power have been able to
move it by tampering with this enchantment.
The
second enchantment causes the hammer to return to the exact spot from which it
is thrown after striking its target.
The
third enchantment enables the hammer’s wielder to summon the elements of storm
(wind, rain, thunder, lightning and so forth) by stamping its hammer twice upon
the ground and willing to do so. Thor can also project various forms of mystical
energy from the hammer without striking on the ground.
The
fourth enchantment enables the hammer to open interdimensional portals, allowing
its wielder to travel to other dimensions, such as from Asgard to Earth. (It is
not known how Thor locates the dimension to which he wishes to travel.)
The
fifth enchantment, bestowed on the hammer in modern times, enabled Thor to
transform into the mortal Don Blake, by stamping the hammer once upon the ground
and willing the change to occur. When Thor became Blake, Mjolnir took the form
of a gnarled wooden cane. By stamping the cane upon the ground once and willing
the change to occur, Thor could turn himself back into his true godly form and
the cane would once again become a hammer. When the hammer was in the form of a
cane, anyone could lift it, and hence, in one alternate reality, Jane Foster
used it to become Thordis, a female Thor. A provision of the enchantment
required that the hammer could not be out of Thor’s hand for over sixty
seconds while he was on Earth without his spontaneous reversion to his mortal
self.
Most
of this fifth enchantment has been transferred to the hammer of Beta Ray Bill.
However, enough of the fifth enchantment remains in Thor’s hammer so that
stamping his hammer, he can instantaneously transform his arraignment as Thor
into mortal clothing and vice versa as seen through his mortal guise as Sigurd
Jarlson. The hammer itself no longer changed form. A form of the enchantment
existed for Eric Masterson and while Thor co-existed as Jake Olson.
The
hammer has had one enchantment that has been rescinded. Formerly the hammer
could be swung in such a way as to generate chronal displacement inertia,
enabling its wielder to travel through time. Most of this property, which is
separate from the hammer’s power to transcend dimensions, was removed by
Immortus, and Thor himself recently exhausted whatever time-traveling power
Mjolnir had remaining.
By
throwing the hammer and catching its leather thong, Thor can magically propel
himself through the air in the semblance of flight. Just as the hammer can
magically change its course in order to return to his hand when he throws it, so
can it be influenced by its wielder to change its course when in flight. The
precise manner by which Thor “steers” his hammer when in flight is not
known, nor is the precise speed and distance Thor can attain with a single
throw. Thor has been observed to attain escape velocity from the Earth’s
gravity with a single throw and to overtake space vessels.
Paraphernalia:
Thor possesses an enchanted belt of strength that doubles his strength while he
wears it. However, Thor feels physically drained after wearing it. He sometimes
wears a pair of iron gauntlets to protect himself when unleashing Mjolnir’s
most powerful energies.
Transportation:
Thor randomly drives a chariot-like vehicle pulled by two enchanted goats,
Tanngniost (“Toothgnasher”) and Tanngrisnir (“Toothgrinder”). These two
goats possess unusually high intelligence and can run at incredible speed on
land and through the air as they transverse dimensional barriers. The goats also
have the power to return to life even after being killed and regenerate lost tissue
even after being reduced to bones.
Clarifications:
Thor is not to be confused with: