Character Analysis: Thor Odinson (Part 2

Arsenal

Helmet

Thor’s classic outfit is Asgardian formal wear, probably most defined by his iconic winged helmet forged of Asgardian steel. Thor’s attachment to it comes from it being the very first war helmet given to him by papa Odin when he became an adolescent, with the wings adorning it being hawk wings signifying Thor’s command over the winds. Beyond its sentimental and cultural value, the helmet has some practical use. By taking off his helmet and tying his cape around it, he can make a makeshift battering ram to break through a field of thorns capable of piercing even the strongest armour, which is pretty handy if he’s absent from other weapons. Thor’s connection to his helmet is so strong that the Scarlet Witch was able to use it to manifest part of Thor’s essence in a rewritten timeline.

During his time incarnated as the human warrior Siegfried, his helmet was called Tarnhelm, and allowed for shape-shifting.

Cape

Completing Thor’s classic outfit is his cape. Thor has worn this outfit for over 1000 years and can summon it around himself at any time. Beyond the style points, the cape is surprisingly flame retardant, capable of shielding from flames hotter than the fires of Hades, attacks from Firelord, and fireballs from the Incan god Thunder. The flame can be used to protect against poisonous gasses and fumes, to blind others, to restrain beings as strong as Namor underwater, for bullfighting, and as a mask or make-shift bag to prevent touching dangerous things. Thor also frequently uses it as an impromptu bandage for his wounds. Most appropriately, it can be used as a cloak and a blanket.

Much less iconic than his cape and helmet are his arm-bands, but their signature red striped look originates from them being wrapped in Sif’s band, making it actually a symbol of Thor’s love.

Battle Armour

Bitter at yet another defeat at the hands of Thor, Hela would curse the thunder god for a time with ‘immortality’, manifesting as his bones becoming extremely brittle and unable to heal while preventing him from actually dying. It wouldn’t take long for Thor to find himself practically unable to move his broken left arm without suffering agonising pain. Thor’s initial solution was a biomechanical cast over his arm, which responded to his nerves so that he could move the arm without moving his broken bones. After suffering even more unhealable damage to the rest of his body, Thor needed a way to protect himself, and used the famous blast furnaces of Pittsburgh and the sacred runes of Odin to forge Asgardian steel armour. This armour essentially became Thor’s body, with his flesh and bones commanding it as they once commanded his actual body to counteract Hela’s curse. The armour held his shattered bones together so he wasn’t paralysed by pain, even as his battles ended up reducing him to a literal quivering mass of jellied flesh maintained only by the armour. The armour was tough enough to withstand a blast from the Destroyer, though its more intense matter-manipulating attacks allowed it to destroy and reconstruct the suit repeatedly.

After Thor overcame Hela’s curse, he would stash away the armour, and kept it inside a satchel contained inside a pocket universe alongside his belt of strength to allow him to recall the armour to him whenever he wanted. He would don the armour alongside the belt in his battles against Arishem and the Thermal Man. All that being said, the armour was ultimately made for specifically the purpose of defending against Hela’s curse, and outside of that context isn’t really actually that useful, so Thor rarely calls upon it. Its last appearance was during Ragnarok, where Thor would wear it while he gained the power of the runes.

Also if you’re wondering about that one armour that’s in Rivals which people confuse for Rune King Thor,

<- this one, it was only seen for a few pages where it did nothing and the sentience of the Odinforce called it useless before forcibly shedding it from him.

Jarnbjorn

An Asgardian steel battle axe forged by the dwarves of Nidavellir for the valkyrie Runa, it would end up in the hands of a young Thor Odinson and served as one of his primary weapons prior to his becoming worthy. After an embarrassing loss to Apocalypse, Thor would be tricked by Kang the Conqueror into enchanting the weapon to make it capable of piercing Apocalypse’s Celestial armour. After being lost for centuries, it would most prominently end up back in the now fully matured Thor’s hands after he had lost the worthiness of Mjolnir and served as his primary weapon during this period. Early on, it was depicted as being capable of returning to Thor’s hand after being thrown, but later (and more important) comics confirm that it does not have this ability, and that Thor must manually retrieve it after he throws it. When not in use, it’s held on his back. Since Thor is back to using Mjolnir, he no longer has need of Jarnbjorn, and the axe is currently back with Runa.

Of note is that the axe’s ability to cut through Celestials and their technology seems less indicative of its strength and more indicative of the axe’s enchantment acting as a sort of kryptonite to Celestials. Jarnbjorn lacks feats comparable to its showings against Celestials, and was prominently able to clash evenly with Mjolnir despite the fact that Jarnbjorn was used to easily kill the Celestial Exitar while Mjolnir, even when used by an amped Thor, could barely chip that same Exitar’s armour. Beyond that, the axe is durable enough to block enemy laser blasts and endure the heat of the sun.

Cleaving strength

Prosthetic Arm

(image credit)

Soon after Thor became unworthy, he lost his left arm after an attack from Malekith, and shifted through multiple prosthetics to replace it. The first of these was a new arm forged of black uru in the same forge which made Mjolnir, which was designed to outlast even the stars and is tough enough to block strikes from Jane Foster wielding Mjolnir and Proxima Midnight’s darts. After it melted due to Thor channeling the God Tempest, it would be replaced with a new golden arm, which would itself be replaced with the arm of the Destroyer itself. Since it comes from the Destroyer, it’s obviously very strong, able to block hellfire blasts from Johnny Blaze. Thor would finally regain his left arm upon being given the Power Cosmic, which also shattered the Destroyer prosthetic.

Discount Hammers

After Mjolnir was destroyed during Jane Foster’s battle with Mangog, Thor Odinson would reclaim his title, and needed a new hammer to go along with it. Unfortunately, the best Asgard and its limited resources could do was a series of discount Temu hammers, forged out of impure uru by the dwarves and enchanted by a weakened Odin. These hammers are still able to create portals and, most importantly, allow for flight, though they’re not capable of traversing between realms other than going between Earth and Asgard. While they could be crushed by the likes of Namor, the hammers are still strong enough to bloody an empowered Juggernaut, and their enchantment is powerful enough to allow Thor to recall them out of mini black holes and destroy the gravity well in the process. They can also fire lightning bolts against large swathes of enemies.

The hammers boast a limited form of the traditional worthiness enchantment, zapping those who try to touch it and only allowing the god of thunder to wield it. Their most useful property is probably simply their sheer numbers, since Thor can telekinetically control multiple of the hammers at once to blow away entire swathes of enemies. There also exist specialised hammers with unique abilities, such as the Bomb Hammer which was used to blow up a large bridge, and a hammer made of blood frozen as hard as iron which was used to aura farm. Ultimately, they got the job done.

Skidbladnir

A magical flying ship forged by the dwarves, which is normally tiny but shrinks to massive size at command. It’s able to sail soundlessly through realities, dimensions, and time, and was used by Jane Foster to sail into the Splinter Realms.

Thor has also used a couple of other space-faring ships of similar nature. He once used an unnamed ship adorned with jewels later used by the water elemental Sedna, and most prominently journeyed on the Star-Jammer, an interstellar viking ship which has magic which lets it sail through space and lets people breathe even with no air. It can cross thousands of light-years quickly, and despite being made of ordinary wood, could sail between dimensions from Asgard to Rigel, boasting speeds proportional to stellar light and able to travel to the edges of the universe. It would later be upgraded with alien weapons. If you ask me, it kind of mogs Skidbladnir.

Communication Devices

Thor has used a variety of communication devices to talk with his Avengers team-mates during missions. These include: two-way radio, a communicator on his belt, a throat-mike transceiver in space, a micro-transmitter, and an Avengers phone which somehow works across dimensions. Most prominent of these is his Avengers communicard ID, which Thor keeps in the hollow of his belt.

Gem of Infinite Suns

A personal treasure belonging to Odin which contains the power of a multitude of suns. The gem was forged in the fire of a star eons ago and contains unlimited solar power. Thor used it to burn away an empowered ice demon and sear Kurse before melting the ice across all of Asgard and closing the Casket of Ancient Winters. He would then transport both the casket and the gem to a distant dimension to prevent Malekith from getting his hands on either.

Crimson Hand

An enchanted Asgardian relic, which forces anybody it shakes hands with to speak the truth. Thor only used it once, but why did nobody in Asgard ever use this against Loki?

Norn Stones

The Norn stones are extremely powerful and esoteric stones linked to the Norns, with many reality-bending effects. It’s been stated that the stones choose the host and grant the bearer’s wish, meaning that how their power manifests is entirely based on the user. Fortunately for me, that means I don’t have to worry about checking every single thing the stones have done and can just look at what Thor has done with them. He held them for a brief arc during his classic era and used them strictly to levitate, either mid-combat or for long distance travel. Much later, Loki would use them to empower Thor to fight against the Void.

Summoning Stones

A set of magic summoning stones Thor once used to speak to his mother Freyja.

Eir-Gram

The Eir-Gram is a sword which draws upon the user’s soul, made for the purpose of slaying the Disir, fallen Asgardian valkyries turned into cannibalistic soul-devouring ghosts. Thor managed to retrieve the sword and employ it against the Disir. The blade spoke to Thor, warning him of a betrayal, and purified the betrayer’s soul upon stabbing her, destroying the sword in the process.

Scuba Suit

A (presumably mystical) scuba suit Thor used to dive 660,958 leagues into the spewing light of the World Tree.

Stellar Armour

Crazy looking cosmic armour Thor used to fight against Galactus and the Silver Surfer. We never saw it do anything.

Odin Armour

A set of armour Odin wore when he razed Aezheim to stop his brother Cul. He gave it to Thor to protect him from some of Cul’s power.

Odinsword

Odin’s apocalyptic blade, which he gave to Thor to kill Cul. Thor would successfully use it to slay Cul at the cost of his own life. Cul, at this point, was strong enough to easily beat the Destroyer and shatter Captain America’s shield.

The name “Odinsword” has been used for two other blades in Marvel history, which may or may not be the same sword. Thor has used another blade called the Odinsword to cleave the World Tree in half, trapping the God-Eaters in the universe and causing the tree to fix itself in place and purge itself of impurities. This sword could slice through space-time itself, and its cutting Yggdrasil rendered the bridge of worlds permanent and fixed and shook loose all the different realms hanging from its branches.

Most prominently, the Odinsword frequently appeared in classic comics as a massive blade belonging to Odin. Known as the Oversword of Asgard, if it was unsheathed, the planets themselves would tremble in fear and the end of the universe would come. If anybody but Odin were to draw this Odinsword, the entire universe would instantly be destroyed. Villains like Mangog attempting to draw the sword to end reality would serve as a plot-point for multiple stories, and it was eventually revealed that the sword was formed from the cursed rhinegold ring-halves stemming from the previous Ragnarok cycle’s Mjolnir, and is imbued with the curse of Nieblung, which is why if anybody other than Odin attempts to wield it, they’ll rend the fabric of infinity. Odin himself would use this sword to shatter Mjolnir and cut off the arm of the Celestial Nezzar. Thor subsequently threw it with enough force to pierce Arishem, though Arishem let this happen to study it and proceeded to easily melt and exorcise it.

The connection between all three of these swords, if there is any, has never been alluded to, and the closest thing there is to an official source linking them is the Marvel: Arms and Armor guidebook using an image of the Odinsword used to slay Cul while describing the classic reality-ending giant sword.

Twilight Sword

Surtur’s legendary blade, used to herald the coming of Ragnarok. After an arc where Hela used the blade to merge all Nine Realms into one, Thor managed to overcome her and use the sword’s power to undo the dimensional merge and restore the realms back into place, before keeping the sword with Heimdall for safety. Obviously not standard for Thor, but it is standard for Beta Ray Bill for what that’s worth.

Ymir’s Blood

To fight the Dark Celestials, Thor retrieved a vial containing the blood of Ymir from Asgard’s armoury. Alongside his at-the-time partner She-Hulk, he devoured it, turning him giant sized and allowing him to go toe-to-toe with the Celestials physically until the enchantment wore off.

Reel-Rifle

A reel-rifle Thor used to hunt an armored beast-fish. His injuries at the time caused the recoil to knock the shot off balance. Not the last gun Thor would use.

Cannon

A gun from the Collector which Thor used to blast away a faux Cosmic Cube from Thanos’s chest. This one actually is the last gun we saw Thor use.

Tracker

A device given to Thor by Iron Man to allow him to track the Absorbing Man via his pager’s signal.

Magneto Helmet

Alongside other heroes, Thor once used a version of Magneto’s helmet to block Cassandra Nova’s telepathy.

Toy Hammer

A toy hammer Franklin Richards gave him to declare Thor as a true friend of him and the Fantastic Four, as thanks for Thor sacrificing himself to save Franklin during Heroes Reborn.

Odin-Scepter

The royal scepter which marks the authority of Asgard’s All-Father. When Thor first became Lord of Asgard he donned the royal helmet and wielded the scepter.

Bloodaxe

The Bloodaxe is the enchanted axe wielded initially by Skurge the Executioner, notable for its ability to cut space and its corrupting nature. After being crowned All-Father, Thor was given the axe by his follower Thialfi, and used it to kill the god-slayer Desak after a losing battle. Thor would use the axe again in his battles with Perrikus, grabbing the Bloodaxe off a wall and using it to chop off Perrikus’s arm all the while resisting it controlling him. After that experience, Thor chose to destroy it.

Hofund

Hofund is Sif and Heimdall’s enchanted sword which allows them to call upon the Bifrost whenever they wish, wherever they wish. All-Father Thor borrowed it from Sif in the battle against the God Tempest to summon the Bifrost around the entity, binding it and sending it to Nidavellir, before returning it to her.

Magical Mirror

A gift from Zeus to the newly crowned All-Father Thor which reveals one’s inner self. As this was during the Reigning, this ended up showing a power-mad and angry Thor.

Feather

A feather All-Father Thor attempted to give to Storm to allow her to summon him when she most needed it, though she rejected it. Given he died immediately after this, that was a good call on her end.

The Destroyer

The Destroyer is an enchanted battle-suit which serves as one of the most powerful, and most dangerous, weapons in Asgard’s arsenal. Millennia ago, Odin faced down the Third Host of Celestials, and was humbled by their truly omnipotent power. They left with a warning that they would return, and Odin immediately got to work preparing any way he could to take them down when they finally arrived. For this purpose, the Destroyer was forged by the Dwarves of Nidavellir out of uru and rhinegold, and was blessed by the power of every sky-lord from every known pantheon, making it even harder than adamantium or raw uru. When someone touches the suit, or otherwise has their lifeforce transferred into it, the Destroyer comes to life, absorbing their soul into itself while their body remains lifeless on the ground, and will immediately begin targeting whatever is in its sight with utmost impunity. The Destroyer’s programming overrides the will of whatever lifeforce is animating it, ensuring that it will always attempt to destroy whatever it is fighting. It has the physical strength to do it too, the Destroyer is far stronger than Thor and has beat him to near-death before. While fighting in the vacuum of space, it was able to beat the shit out of Gladiator, with him stating he’s never felt such power. It’s been stated only Odin could match it, and the suit could overpower Thor even while he had the All-Power, requiring Thor’s power alongside an entire army of Asgardians to give it pause. Its individual blows can fell mountains, and it wields the power to reduce all of Asgard to rubble. It’s also enormously durable, capable of enduring repeated strikes from Jarnbjorn, a lightning blast from Jane Foster Thor, and a combined assault from Scarlet Witch, Karnilla, and a bunch of other heroes without a scratch. It endured the heat of the Phoenix Force and its metal can survive inside of the sun. Even Loki’s full power could do nothing to it. All the more terrifying, then, that it gets stronger every time it's activated, and can fight for an eternity without rest. Due to being powered by Odin’s enchantment, the Destroyer can wield Mjolnir regardless of the life-force animating it.

The Destroyer’s true deadliest ability lies not in its physical strength, but in its large variety of energy projection. By firing kzippa particles, the Destroyer can annihilate even gods to nothing. Its energy aura alone is enough to shatter a planet. Its blasts, via sheer force, have cracked open Mjolnir on two separate occasions. It can fire heat blasts comparable to Surtur, more powerful than “a dozen suns”, which can be controlled as rings of arcane fire. It was capable of electrifying a huge swath of water, and then turning that entire tidal wave into steam with a touch. More esoterically, the Destroyer can manipulate matter itself. It was capable of magnetising the floor to draw Thor to the ground before converting the floor around Thor into liquid and solidifying it into diamond to trap him, and then attempting to hit him with a blast that would turn him into another form. It could instantly turn the floor beneath it into lava and transmute loose rubble around Thor and Thunderstrike into a solid encasing harder than diamond. It was capable of telekinetically launching Thor with a blast of “eldritch energy”. When attempting to destroy Thor’s battle armour while he was inflicted by Hela’s immortality curse, it hit it with “molecular disruptors, nuclear ripsawas, and anti-matter particle beams”, having “reduced the armor and the body to plasma and reconstructed them completely”. As a result of this, the Destroyer can hurt low-density intangible foes by adjusting the density of its blasts to match, and can even hurt spirit forms like Loki’s astral self. Most deadly of all is the power of disintegration from its visor blasts, strong enough to kill the likes of Thor (including with the All-Power), the Hulk, and Odin, obliterate foes to nothing, and melt the planet to cinder. Even with all that offensive power, the Destroyer can still survive its own energy projection from its visor imploding in on itself.

Odin, as the one who created the Destroyer, has complete control over it and doesn’t succumb to its corruption, able to make it kneel and remove the soul animating it. He’s used it on multiple occasion, most famously piloting it while merged with the entire life-force of Asgard and growing it to near mountain sized while wielding the Odinsword to fight the Celestials, the entire purpose for the suit’s making.Its blows in this state could pulverise a planet and its armor could survive a supernova, but it was ultimately reduced to slag by the Celestials despite its efforts. It was later revealed that not even the Celestials could totally unmake the Destroyer, and its slag was restored by the presence of living beings whose life-essences it absorbed when they got close. Odin has also been seen using the Destroyer to discipline Thor in the past, wearing it as literal armour described as strong enough to face universal armageddon itself and easily defeating his son. In his last appearance with it, he summoned the Destroyer to himself to fight Galactus after downing himself with a headbutt, which was enough to make Galactus retreat. Given Galactus has made the Destroyer his herald before and has even merged with it, he certainly recognises its power.

As for Thor, he’s also used the armour multiple times, though he’s more often fought it. While usually overpowered by it, he has been capable of freeing the soul inside the suit with a well-timed strike. The first time he used the suit was in a brawl with Loki, accidentally touching it and being immediately overtaken by its drive to destroy. He almost disintegrated Loki with its visor blast before Odin showed up to free his spirit. Later on, Thor, while completely jellified as a result of being cursed with immortality by Hela, was able to clash with the Destroyer on the spiritual plane and defeat it, actually taking complete control of the armour and resisting its corruption, symbolised by him donning the suit with his helmet and cape. With this level of power, Thor immediately turned Garm into barren rock before blasting straight to Hel to get some sweet revenge. Thor rampaged through Hel’s forces, even discarding Mjolnir as unnecessary when the Destroyer’s blasts were strong enough to split words apart. He turned all of Hela’s soldiers into stone while Hela ran away in fear, knowing getting hit would kill even her. Thor fired a blast of transmutation which turned the floor around her to clay, and his blasts outsped Hela’s own, racing across dimensional barriers at speeds faster than light to encase his body on Earth in an impenetrable crystal which prevented Hela from touching it. He beat the shit out of Hela and had her on the ropes, his blasts able to magnetically draw her in against her will and causing mass destruction to Hel, and his visor blast of disintegration threatening to eradicate her. Ultimately, he managed to trick Hela into restoring his physical body before transferring his soul into it, undoing her curse and successfully humiliating her. Note that while Hela could break said crystals at the cost of much of her power, they are still strong enough to completely seal both Hela and the Destroyer itself.

After receiving the All-Power, Thor gains complete control of the Destroyer just as Odin did. When fighting Donald Blake, Thor had his ravens remove his spirit from his body and transfer it directly to the Destroyer from across dimensions to confront Blake. Despite Blake being empowered by the Odinforce, Thor was capable of blasting him away with the armour and beating him senseless, only stopped when Blake attempted to absorb Odin’s magic from out of the armour. When the fight was over, Thor stepped out of the armour directly, somehow manifesting his physical body located in a different dimension back around his soul. Like Odin, Thor should be capable of summoning the Destroyer armour directly to him using the All-Power. Given that, and the fact that his ravens can transfer his soul to it whenever he wants with him having complete control over it, I would consider the Destroyer standard for Thor when he has the All-Power, though obviously it isn’t standard when talking about Thor’s baseline incarnations.

Misc. weapons

As a highly-experienced Asgardian warrior, Thor has been trained in and used many kinds of weapons. Most prominently, when absent any of his special weaponry, he’s been seen using generic swords.

Tormod

To prepare him for his battle with the elder gods of Utgard, the teller of the tales Loki placed the All-Father Thor in a series of trials, requiring him to forge three new relics linked to the three runes in his name for use in the final battle. In his first trial, Thor forged his Asgardian steel helmet with lightning and rain into an ax-head, which he dubbed Tormod, before using it to shave his beard off. He would then add a branch and bindings to the ax-head to forge it into a true weapon and imbue it with magic so that it always returns to his hand.

Tormod is a highly potent weapon, capable of piercing the flesh of the elder god Kemur, clashing with Skurge’s space-cutting Bloodaxe, and recalling to Thor’s hand with enough force to cleave through the elder god Mejed’s body to kill him. Tormod is the symbol of Thor’s wisdom and cunning, and as such can only be wielded by the wise, such as Skurge. As it represents knowledge and the solving of riddles, it is the end of all mysteries.

When not in use, Thor carries it on his belt, and he can keep it in storage at his hall for easy access.

Yolgjord

The second of All-Father Thor’s three relics. After Loki placed him in a battle against the corrupt skyfather Zeus, Thor managed to absorb the god’s energy, resisting his corrupting Utgard darkness and shaping his lightning into a golden belt, Yolgjord, to seal Zeus’s power safely. Thor shaped Yolgjord with the purpose of defending against magic, including rune-magic and skald-magic. This ensures that when Thor wears the belt, he is immune to Loki’s powers and Enchantress’s skald-magic draining his wits on Earth. When he was turned to stone by the Grey Gargoyle, the belt resisted the effect, requiring all of Gargoyle’s power to keep Thor petrified. If the Gargoyle removed his hand from Thor, Thor would be free from the stone in a minute or less. The belt isn't perfect though, as it’s unable to protect Thor from Utgard-Loki’s magic due to him being the very embodiment of the trick and magic itself.

Beyond its immunity to magic, the belt also increases Thor’s endurance. The belt allowed Thor to endure the same cycles again and again, and is the reason Thor could constantly fight while in the cycle of Utgardhall. In the meta-narrative of the comic, where the reader is encouraged to flip a coin to determine which direction they go while reading, this cyclical loop can theoretically occur endlessly if the reader has bad luck and ensures the loop of events Thor experiences continues forever. Thor can also shape the belt freely, using the All-Power to reshape it into a nose ring to humiliate and hurt the elder god Kemur. Like Tormod, Thor can recall the belt to him, and keeps it stored in his hall.

Thor mistakenly believed the third and final relic to be Mjolnir itself, an error which would cost him his life. What’s the true third relic Thor needs to overcome the elder gods? Find out in the upcoming pages of Thor written by Al Ewing.

Support

While he’s not listed here due to not being used by Thor for combat, I want to say that I am aware of Thori the murder dog, and now you are too.

Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder

Far in the past, Loki tricked Thor into attempting to tame a pair of brother goats, the most unruly and stubborn of animals. After a summer of attempting to ride them, Thor managed to break them in using the magical Bregd-Thrall, and adorned his two new steeds with the names Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder.

Typically, the goats carry Thor by pulling his chariot. The goats are capable of flying through space and dimensions at speeds well beyond that of light, able to operate possibly indefinitely without rest. They have been seen riding the Bifrost to Earth, travelling across galaxies, returning from the far ends of the universe to Asgard, and traversing the border between realms and breaking through space to Yggdrasil itself. When the Bifrost was destroyed, Thor used his goats to ride through the cosmic storms between realms. Thor can summon his goats to him whenever he wants, such as through a burst of lightning or a whistle. When Thor was unworthy and lacked Mjolnir’s ability to fly, his goats served as his primary means of flight and realm travel.

The goats are sapient, having spoken to Thor when he was transformed into a frog, and are highly intelligent, with Loki needing to enchant them to follow her command as otherwise they would sense her intent to do Asgard harm. They’re also extremely loyal, having saved Thor’s life by dragging his unconscious body from Earth’s oceans to Asgard when he was nearly killed by Malekith. If killed, the goats simply come back to life the next day. Loki needed to break their bones to ensure they couldn’t regenerate during Ragnarok. Killing them isn’t easy though, as they’re also enormously strong, frequently aiding Thor in his fight by ramming into his opponents. While Toothgnasher was killed for a time by Mangog, it would later be resurrected by Loki. With Thor dead, they’re currently under the ownership of his son Magni. Taika Waititi loves them and you should too.

Physical strength

Horses

Thor is a skilled horse rider, having used a variety of horses over the years, from ordinary ones to winged pegasi. Named ones include the white horse Trelbold, which he rode in his youth for several days to reach Nornheim, and 8 named horses with the ability to resurrect if killed, who he would later merge using arcane magic into the 8-legged horse Sleipnir. While Sleipnir is normally Odin’s steed, Thor has also ridden it into battle before and has been given it for specific adventures by Odin. Sleipnir can gallop between dimensions and reach Valhalla, and is even faster than the Asgardian god of speed Hermod.

Hugin and Munin

Hugin and Munin are Odin’s magical elemental ravens. Dubbed ‘thought’ and ‘memory’ respectively, Odin would use the ravens as his eyes and ears across the realms, sending them out to retrieve information before reporting back to him. When Thor became All-Father, the ravens transferred ownership to him. As fully sapient and highly intelligent ravens, they act as an invaluable lookout for the All-Father.

The ravens serve as Thor’s sight, allowing Thor to see all they have gleaned and remembered, even more abstract events such as Odin’s feelings as he died. They can respond even to barely conscious commands from a weakened All-Father. The ravens are incredibly fast and can traverse dimensions, able to fly across the universe at the speed of thought to find Hela in her merged realm before instantaneously returning to Asgard, scour the galaxies for weeks to find the Heralds of Galactus, quickly travel from the planet Clypse to the Rainbow Bridge, and ferry people across all Ten Realms. They’re imbued with runes which allow them to travel anywhere in existence and bypass a barrier in the Burning Galaxy which kept out Thor himself, and they’ve been described as being able to travel through any dimensional barrier in existence and, in the time it takes for a raindrop to fall, travel from Fortnite island to Asgard. They’ve also been seen bypassing forcefields around Odin to survey for him. They are guided by senses beyond sight, allowing them to act as effective trackers. Thor has used them to locate Hulk in a different dimension, search all the realms for Tyr, contact Sif from a distant alien planet to summon the Bifrost, and read books and relay the information back to him. When Thor first gained ownership of the ravens, he cast Munin into the Path of Shattered Infinity with the Bell of Endless Reach attached so that no matter how far across the void the raven travelled, the bell’s ring would reach Thor, with Thor hearing the bell after a week of travel. Per the Marvel Handbook, they’re immune to all holding spells.

Under Odin’s command, the ravens have displayed precognitive abilities, telling him about the coming of Ragnarok and of a future attack by the trolls which even Heimdall could not see coming.

The powers of the ravens are fairly esoteric, and their ability to act as Thor’s eyes and ears is quite literal. He’s been able to speak directly through the two, noting they never truly were ravens, and Sif has given Hugin her eyes to allow Thor to see what she sees. When Thor was trapped in a vision of a different universe, his ravens were able to link with him and show him reality, allowing him to locate Mjolnir. When he was more literally trapped in a pocket dimension beneath Yggdrasil by Donald Blake, a burst of All-Power allowed Thor to contact his ravens from across infinity, before making them remove his spirit from his body and traverse dimensions to implant it in the Destroyer. In Immortal Thor, he was seen commanding both his goats and his ravens at the same time while traveling to Antarctica, so he can command his entire animal menagerie at once.

They also served as the hosts of the letters page for Thor’s 2020 solo series written by Donny Cates.