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Birth
of A God
Thor is the
son of Odin, Lord of the Gods of Asgard, and Gaea, the eldest goddess of
the Earth. Odin wanted a child of Asgard and Earth, which is why he mated
with Gaea, the Earth Mother. Gaea gave birth to Thor in a small cave in
Norway. A few months later, Odin took the baby to Asgard to be raised by
his wife, the Asgardian goddess Frigga. Thor did not learn that Gaea was
his mother until many centuries later. |
| The young
Thor was raised with Loki, his step-brother. Loki had been the son of the
Frost Giant leader Laufey, who had been killed by Odin. Even when they
were growing up, Loki was jealous of Thor's powers and popularity. This
jealousy grew into an all-consuming hatred. |
| When Thor
was eight years old, Odin sent him to Nidalvellir, the land of the dwarves.
Thor was to order the dwarves Brokk and Entiri to create three special
items for Odin. One of these items was the Uru hammer called Mjolnir. Loki
somehow sabotaged the creationof the hammer so that its handle was made
too short. |
| Odin enchanted
the hammer with many powerful magicks, including one that made it impossible
for anyone to lift the hammer unless he or she were truly worthy. Odin
proclaimed that Mjolnir was intended for Thor's use someday, when he had
proven himself worthy to wield it. For the next eight years Thor trained
to become a mighty warrior, and he performed many heroic deeds. Odin then
presented Mjolnir to him, and declared him to be the greatest warrior of
Asgard. |
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A God
Amongst Men
In the Ninth
Century A.D., Thor went to the Earth for the first time. While on Earth
he promoted his worship among the Vikings. Later on, the Norsemen and Germanic
people would also come to worship Thor and the other Asgardians. While
on Earth, Thor encouraged his worshipers to glorify the ways of combat.
One day, Thor discovered that some of his Viking worshipers had killed
the defenseless inhabitants of a Christian monastery. |
| Shocked by
the fact that some of his more fanatic worshipers were killing innocents
in his name, Thor left Earth and cut himself off from his worshipers. Over
time, the worship of the Gods of Asgard died out. |
| At one point,
Odin had plucked out his eye and threw it in the Well of Wisdom. This eye
attained sentience, and grew to a large size. The eye eventually told Thor
many stories about himself and Odin, none of which Thor remembered. The
eye told Thor that he was not the first Thor, the previous one having been
killed during the last Ragnarok while fighting the Midgard Serpent. |
| The eye also
told Thor that Odin had once stripped Thor of his godly essence and placed
it in two successive mortal forms. These two incarnations were the two
Germanic heroes of legend, Sigmund and his son Siegfried. In these two
mortal guises, Thor played an important part in Odin's schemes to regain
the powerful cursed Ring of the Nibelung. Sigmund was killed by the warrior
Hunding, but Thor was then born as Siegfried. |
| Siegfried
was the son of Sigmund and his lover Sieglinde. Siegfried gained the Ring
of the Nibelung after killing the giant Fafnir, who had taken the form
of a dragon. Siegfried also gained the Tarn Helm, which enabled its wearer
to magically appear as someone else. During the battle with Fafnir, Siegfried
accidentally tasted some of Fafnir's blood, which gave him the ability
to understand the speech of animals. It also gave him the ability to read
the minds of those nearby. Siegfried then fell in love with Brunnhilde,
a Valkyrie who had been stripped of her godly abilities by Odin when she
had disobeyed his commands. Using the last of her powers, she enchanted
Siegfried so that he could be harmed only by attacks from behind. |
| Siegfried
was eventually killed by Hagen, the son of Albreich, the dwarf who had
originally created the Ring and placed a curse on it. Odin then resurrected
Siegfried as Thor, but Odin wiped out all memories of his two mortal identities. |
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Rebirth
of A God
As the centuries
passed, Thor had many perilous adventures in Asgard. But over time Odin
became concerned with his son's headstrong ways and lack of humility. After
Thor broke a truce by chasing a monster into the land of the Frost Giants,
almost causing a war, Odin decided it was time to teach Thor a lesson.
Using the body of a young medical student as a template, Odin created a
mortal body for Thor. This mortal body was given a lame leg, and then Thor,
stripped of all his power and memories, was sent to Earth to live in the
mortal body. He appeared on the campus of the New York State College of
Medicine, with a false history and background implanted in his mind. Thus
did the life of Donald Blake begin. |
| Blake applied
himself to his studies with great care, and eventually graduated with top
honors. Blake soon gained a reputation as a caring family doctor and a
brilliant surgeon. He opened a private practice in New York City and hired
a nurse named Jane Foster. As time went by, the two began to fall in love. |
| Odin, knowing
that such a love could only end in despair, became worried. About that
time, Odin sensed the arrival of an alien space ship in the Solar System.
The ship was a scout ship for a main invasion fleet of the alien Kronans.
They planned to land on Earth and scout it out for the main fleet. Odin
magically altered the ship's course so that it would land in Norway. |
| Working quickly,
Odin placed a compulsion in Blake's mind causing him to suddenly go to
Norway for a vacation. While walking along the Norwegian coastline, Blake
came upon the Kronan ship and he was discovered by the aliens. Losing his
walking cane during his flight from the aliens, Blake took refuge in a
cave. A secret door opened up in the back of the cave, and he found a chamber
containing nothing but a gnarled wooden walking cane. Unknown to Blake,
the chamber was where Thor had been born so many centuries earlier. |
| Exploring,
Blake found that the only other way out was blocked by a huge boulder that
he could not budge at all. Frustrated, and scared by the thought of the
eventual arrival of the aliens, Blake struck out at the boulder with the
wooden cane. Blake was surrounded by a blazing light, and then he found
his body transformed into a powerful form. The cane had been transformed
into a mighty hammer. Blake instinctively knew that he had become the legendary
Thor, even though he still had no memory of his former life. |
| Thor attacked
the Kronans, who fled from his power and strength. Fearing that the whole
planet was inhabited by men like Thor, they called off the invasion. For
several years, Blake acted as the heroic Thor, and his memories slowly
returned. Finally, Odin restored Thor's complete memory and revealed himself. |
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The
Mantle is Passed
Nick Fury,
leader of the espionage agency SHIELD, later helped Thor set up a new identity
as Sigurd Jarlson, a construction worker. In this identity, Thor simply
pulled back his hair, wore glasses, and dressed like a normal human. |
| Meanwhile,
the demon Surtur caused the destruction of the Burning Galaxy, intending
to re-forge the Sword of Doom. The disaster destroyed most of an alien
empire, whose survivors fled, pursued by Surtur's demons. The survivor's
fleet was discovered by SHIELD, and Nick Fury asked Thor to investigate.
Thor faught the alien's guardian, Beta Ray Bill, and during the fight Thor
was separated from his hammer, causing him to turn back into Don Blake.
Bill picked up the wooden cane and struck a wall of the ship. Bill was
then transformed into an alien version of Thor, holding Mjolnir. |
| When Odin
then summoned Thor to Asgard, the summons carried Bill to Asgard instead.
Odin then summoned Blake to Asgard and transformed him into Thor. Thor
and Bill made up, but Bill refused to give up Mjolnir; Bill felt that he
had taken it in fair combat, and he needed the hammer to protect his people.
Odin ordered a trial by combat, which Bill won. But Bill felt guilty about
taking the hammer that had been made especially for Thor, so he returned
it to Thor. Odin then ordered a new hammer to be made, with the same enchantments
and materials as Thor's. Odin gave this new hammer, Storm Breaker, to Bill.
Thor, Beta Ray Bill, and Sif then went to Bill's armada and drove off Surtur's
demons. Since then, Bill has helped protect Earth and Asgard from Surtur
and other menaces. |
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To
Hel And Back
Surtur then
joined forces with the renegade Dark Elves. The Dark Elves and Surtur's
demon army attacked Earth, after opening the Ancient Casket of Winters
on Earth. The armies of Asgard and Earth, along with a number of super
heroes, drove the invaders back. Meanwhile, Thor, Loki, and Odin protected
Asgard from Surtur himself. The three gods mingled their essences, which
increased their powers so that they might be able to defeat the demonic
fire elemental. During the battle, a great deal of Asgard was destroyed,
including the Rainbow Bridge. Surtur and Odin grappled with each other.
The two combatants then fell down a huge chasm, which then closed up. |
| While Beta
Ray Bill and the Asgardian army prepared to return home, preparations were
made to select a new leader since Odin had disappeared. Lorelei, with the
help of Loki, enchanted Thor and caused him to fall in love with her. Loki
planned to get Thor to choose him as the new leader. Thor broke free of
the enchantment, but the incident had strained Thor's relationship with
Sif. Luckily, Sif later realized what had happened and forgave Thor. |
| Thor, Baldur,
and some Asgardians then traveled to Hel, the realm of the Asgardian death
goddess, Hela. They went to rescue a number of Earth souls that had been
unrightfully taken by Hela. Thor and his allies were able to save the souls,
but Thor's face was badly scarred in a fight with Hela herself. Thor returned
to Earth and returned the souls to their mortal bodies. While on Earth,
Thor also became involved in a conflict with the omnipotent Beyonder. The
Beyonder resurrected the leader of the Dark Elves, increased the Elf's
powers, and re-named him Kurse. Thor was able to beat Kurse, and send him
to Hel, where he caused Hela many problems. |
| Meanwhile,
the Gods of Asgard began the Great Althing, to chose a new leader. Thor
tried to return to Asgard, but before he could, he was turned into a frog
by Loki. Thor then helped the frogs of Central Park defeat their enemies,
the rats. Thor the frog then regained his hammer, and turned into a frog-like
humanoid, the Thunder Frog. |
| In Asgard,
Harokin, an Asgard warrior, pretended to be Thor. This deception postponed
Loki's attempt to become the new leader of Asgard. Thor arrived in time
and secretly captured Loki before the evil God revealed the deception.
Meanwhile, Volstagg discovered Surtur's sword. Loki had hidden the sword
and was using a machine to drain magical energy from the sword. The magical
energy had provided Loki with the power to transform Thor into a frog.
Volstagg destroyed the machine, which freed Thor from the spell and transformed
him back into his normal form. Thor then talked the Asgardians into making
Baldur their new leader. |
| Hela, who
had guessed that Thor had sent Kurse to Hel, cursed Thor that so his bones
became as brittle as a normal human's. She also cursed him so that he could
not die from his injuries. Thor grew a beard to conceal the facial scars
caused by Hela, and donned a suit of battle armor to support his fragile
body. Despite the curse, Thor was able to kill the Midgard Serpent. Thor
survived the battle, even though the prophecies said that he should die
in the fight too. He survived partially thanks to Hela's curse. Unfortunately,
his body was completely broken and battered, still alive, but unable to
move and in a great deal of pain. Loki sent the Destroyer armor to torment
Thor, but instead Thor was able to send his spirit into the Destroyer armor
and command this ultimate weapon. |
| Thor then
traveled to Hel, planning to force Hela to free him of the curse. Hela
was stunned by his new form, as the Thor Destroyer set about obliterating
Hel. Thor pretended that the basic soul of the Destroyer had taken over,
which meant that he acted like he was going to destroy Hela and Hel. The
desperate Hela had no choice but to return Thor to his original body, and
in return, release him from her curse. Thor made Hela promise never to
take a soul she was not entitled to by the ancient laws, before he agreed
to return his soul to his original body. The frightened Hela agreed and
sent Thor back to Asgard. Thor arrived in time to save Asgard from an invasion
by the Frost Giants, who were secretly backed by Loki. |
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Return
of The Father
Thor and Asgard
next became embroiled in a battle with the Egyptian God of Death, Seth.
While Seth and his armies attacked Asgard directly, Thor and some of his
friends attacked Seth's Black Pyramid, the source of Seth's powers. Thor
discovered that Seth's powers were backed by the captured Bes, the Egyptian
God of Luck. Thor also found and rescued the lost Odin from the pyramid.
Odin had been captured by Seth after separating from Surtur during the
long fall and battle with Surtur. |
| Odin and Thor's
allies returned to Asgard to stand in the final battle against Seth and
his army. Odin granted Thor a portion of his power and left him behind
in Seth's dimension, to battle the arriving Surtur. As Surtur and Thor
fought, the nearby Black Pyramid was destroyed. The resulting energy backlash
thrust the grappling foes through time and space. Meanwhile, Odin led the
surviving Asgardians in a desperate battle with Seth and his army. While
Odin was busy fighting Seth, Hogun killed the Death God with the Black
Knight, whose body had been cursed to become a living magical blade. Thor
and Surtur then arrived in Asgard, and Thor managed to stun Surtur. Odin
then absorbed Surtur's life essences, imprisoning the demon within his
own body. |
| After the
battle, Thor returned to his life on Earth. Unfortunately, it became harder
and harder to communicate and travel between Earth and Asgard. Asgard drifted
into the Negative Zone and was apparently stuck there. Odin imbued Mjolnir
with the ability to contact Asgard one last time. |
|
Reborn
Again
On Earth, Thor
was having many problems of his own. Unknown to him, his body had been
infused with a portion of his evil step-brother's power. This had happened
when Thor, Loki, and Odin had mingled their essences during Surtur's first
attack on Asgard. This caused Thor to have unexplained moments of weakness
during stressful situations. Thor also became friends with the architect
Eric Masterson and Masterson's son, Kevin. |
| During this
time, Odin would enter his Odin-sleep, and noble Heimdall would take over
as Asgard's ruler during this time. Some time later, the mysterious Mongoose
attacked Thor several times, trying to gain a cell sample from the God
of Thunder. Finally, Mongoose kidnapped Eric Masterson and left a trail
that led Thor to Wundagore, the High Evolutionary's home. Thor saved Masterson
and the two learned from the High Evolutionary's New Men that the God Hercules
and the High Evolutionary had been missing after evolving to a higher state.
Masterson accompanied Thor and helped him free Hercules and the High Evolutionary
from Celestials holding them prisoner in the Black Galaxy. They returned
to Earth, while the High Evolutionary turned Wundagore into a spaceship
and headed for the Black Galaxy. Unknown to Thor, a cell sample was obtained
from him before Wundagore left. |
| Hercules,
Thor, and Masterson were then viciously attacked by Mongoose using weapons
he had stolen from Wundagore. Mongoose almost killed Thor using a powerful
energy beam. Masterson took a killing blow for Thor, giving Thor and Hercules
a chance to defeat Mongoose. Unfortunately, Masterson was dying from his
wounds. Thor used his hammer to contact Odin, and begged Odin to spare
Masterson at any cost. Odin reluctantly agreed, merging Thor and Masterson
together, body and soul. They began to share the same life, much as Blake
and Thor had, although the two were separate beings. |
| While Thor
and Masterson dealt with their new condition, more problems arose. Masterson's
private life suffered from his time away as Thor. Masterson eventually
gave up custody of his son, Kevin, to his ex-wife Marcy. While Eric thought
it was best, his secretary, Susan Austin, disagreed, as she had come to
love Eric and Kevin. |
| Thor's spells
of weakness came more often, almost causing his death several times. Thor
asked for help from Doctor Strange, who entered Thor's mind. Thor accompanied
Dr. Strange on this journey. Inside Thor's mind, they discovered an evil
version of Thor, whom the real Thor was able to defeat. They then discovered
that it was actually a portion of Loki's evil essence. |
| Thor and his
friends became plagued by more problems, which Thor soon found were caused
by Loki. Thor and Masterson were briefly separated by a Celestial while
they were involved in the birth of a new Celestial in the Black Galaxy. |
|
Blood
& Thunder
However, the
recent events had left Thor mentally unbalanced and vulnerable. A beautiful
Valkrye started to appear before him and convinced Thor to reject his heroic
nature and start looking out for himself. This Valkyre was really only
a figment of Thor's fractured mind. During this time the being known as
the Goddess convinced the unbalanced Thor to join her cause to forcibly
bring order to the galaxy in the so-called "Infinity Crusade." Although
Thor was released from this mania when the Goddess was defeated, he nevertheless
remained unstable. |
| Sif and Beta
Ray Bill began a quest to find a cure for Thor, whom Sif feared was loosing
himself to the incurable Warrior's Madness. Before Thor could kill Sif
and Bill, the alien Silver Surfer intervened as well as Adam Warlock and
the Infinity Watch, but to no avail. Infinity Watch member Moondragon attempted
to cure Thor with her Mind Gem, but succeeded only in making the Valkyre
a physical being. Thor then stole the Power Gem from Drax the Destroyer,
making himself virtually unstoppable, and retreated to an abandoned part
of Asgard's realm. The assembled heroes, along with Doctor Strange, summoned
the mad Titan, Thanos, as the only one to stop Thor, and Thanos eventually
managed to restrain the mad Thor in a block of pure force. Together, the
entire group attempted to excise Thor's mania. However, they failed and
nearly became lost in madness themselves, returning to reality only when
Thanos asserted his willpower. The resulting backlash caused the Valkyre
to vanish into Thor's mind once more. The group then decided the only way
to cure Thor was to take him to Odin. |
| The arrival
of the group was misconstrued as an act of aggression, and Odin ordered
his Asgardians to attack before the truth became known. Odin entered Thor's
mind in an attempt to cure Thor, and with Doctor Strange and Warlock, journeyed
across Thor's mental landscape. There, Odin found his son chained unto
a mountain. There Odin realized that by continually attempting to teach
his headstrong son humility, he had driven Thor to madness by splitting
off his power among others such as Beta Ray Bill and Eric Masterson. Odin
freed his son, and was faced with the Valkyre. Thor himself fought his
own madness and destroyed the Valkyre, thus curing his madness. |
| Afterwards,
Thor dreamed of Ragnarok and grew angry at his father's past efforts to
discipline him. Deciding to leave Asgard, Thor allied with the High Evolutionary
and his newly created godlike beings, the Godpack, becoming the group's
leader. Soon, however, Thor returned to Asgard to find another Thor taking
his place there. This Thor was a man named Roger Norvell, who had once
before held the mantle of the Thunder God and had died defending the realm.
After Thor had departed, Odin decided that should Ragnarok come, he needed
Thor at his side. Thus, Odin journeyed inside the Hall of Valhalla to find
Roger Norvell. Then, Odin bestowed upon him the power of Thor, and even
gave him a new version of Mjolnir. Then, Odin declared Roger "Red" Norvell
his own son and thus disowned the true Thor. In the aftermath of Odin's
latest decision, Odin told Thor the truth about Donald Blake, leading to
a split with his father. |
| During this
time, others possessing the powers of Thor fell ill or died. This culminated
in the fall of Asgard, and the banishment of its Gods to Earth. Before
Thor could help restore Asgard and return its Gods to their immortal status,
he fell in battle to the creature known as Onslaught. Thor vanished, along
with other heroes such as the Avengers. But, like them, he appeared again
in another dimension and was eventually returned to our own universe. |
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A New
Life On Earth
When Thor returned,
he found the Golden Realm overtaken by an overwhelming evil force. A group
of Dark Gods had conquered Asgard following the return of the Asgardians
from their banishment, and now held Odin, along with the remaining Asgardians,
captive. During this time, the Asgardian robot known as the Destroyer began
a rampage on Earth. Thor, along with the Avengers, battled the animated
suit of armor. Over the course of the battle, Thor's obsessive desire to
stop the Destroyer resulted in the death of a mortal man named Jake Olson.
The Avengers fell, and Thor battled the armor alone until he was defeated
and left near death. A mysterious being named Marnot appeared to Thor and
offered him a chance to return to the land of the living if he would take
the place of the mortal Jake Olson. Thor accepted, and returned to battle
the Destroyer, ultimately vanishing it to another dimension. As with
his bargain with Marnot, Thor tried to continue the life of his alter ego
of Jake Olson. |
| Later still,
Thor and Hercules journeyed to Olympus to find it in ruins. There Thor
found that the Olympians had been attacked by the Dark Gods, masquerading
as the Asgardians. Thor became even more determined to defeat the Dark
Gods, and eventually discovered that they had previously invaded centuries
before, during Thor's childhood, but were defeated and banished. After
a protracted battle, the Dark Gods were eventually defeated and both Asgard
and Olympus was freed from their rule. Then, Marnot was revealed to be
Hescamar, one of Odin's ravens. After the Dark Gods had been defeated the
first time, Odin had prepared for their return by casting a spell on Hescamar
that would transform the raven into a powerful being named Marnot should
Asgard fall. This being was then to find a way to defeat the Dark Gods,
a mission Marnot eventually fulfilled by aiding Thor. Afterwards, Thor
elected to remain on Earth in his obligation of the mortal guise of Jake
Olson. |
|
Thor's
Powers
Thor's Asgardian
physiology grants him superhuman strength as well as increased resistance
to physical attacks, heat, cold, radiation, toxins, aging, and disease. |
| Thor's hammer,
Mjolnir, is made of Uru, a mystical metal of indestructible material. No
one can forcibly take the hammer away from Thor, unless he wishes it. Mjolnir
is further enhanced with magical powers, including the following: |
-
Upon Striking
Mjolnir on the ground or a hard surface, Thor can transform into his mortal
form. If Thor is kept away from the hammer for over one minute, he automatically
reverts back to his mortal form. When he assumes his mortal form, Mjolnir
is absorbed by his body. Striking his hand against a hard surface reverts
Thor back to his immortal form.
|
-
When thrown, whether
it hits or not, Mjolnir flies back to the spot from where it was thrown.
|
-
Mjolnir can open
an aperture to travel between Earth and Asgard, and even a special pocket
dimension where Thor keeps his battle armor and his Belt of Might. By focusing
all of Mjolnir's energy, Thor can create a rift in the fabric of the universe,
breaking the barriers between dimensions. Thor can determine into which
dimension the victims arrive in, travel into random dimensions, and even
cross the time-barrier to travel back or forward in time, although this
ability was later lost by burning out its enchantment after a trick staged
by Immortus and the Space Phantom.
|
-
Thor can fly at
amazing speeds by spinning the hammer around and then throwing it. As it
takes off, he grabs hold of the hammer's leather thong and rides behind
the hammer.
|
-
Thor gains additional
protection against physical, energy, and magical attacks by spinning the
hammer in front of himself, creating a shield-like vortex.
|
-
Thor can control
the weather through Mjolnir, including producing lightning bolts from the
sky or through the hammer. When calling forth lightning, or on command,
Mjolnir can release a blinding burst of light . He can create intense winds
which can also be used to provide increased protection from projectiles
to everyone within Thor's vicinity. This ability can also be used to carry
others with him in flight.
|
-
Only a pure and
noble person is able to pick up Mjolnir and use it. So far, only Odin,
Thor, Captain America, Dargo, Beta Ray Bill and
Wonder Woman have been able to pick up the
hammer.
|
-
Thor's special
attack of "Unfettered Might" does phenomenal damage and surrounds Mjolnir
with a blazing blue aura. Unless he is wearing his special gauntlets, Thor
suffers similar damage when he uses this attack.
|
-
Mjolnir can absorb
energy and visual psychic attacks, and Thor can then release the energy,
in any direction he wants.
|
-
Mjolnir can sense
the use of Asgardian magic.
|
-
Thor can draw
out the life force of an Asgardian God through Mjolnir, utterly destroying
that immortal.
|
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Text in White represents the original and still unchanged history
of the character, while the text in Red
represents the new history as changed by The
Merge.
|
White
text taken from The
Unofficial Handbook to the Marvel Universe. Red
text by Michael Sacal.
© & ™ Marvel
Comics. All Rights Reserved.
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