Marvel Thor stomps. As much as I love the traditional Thor, he gets taken out by the Midgard Serpent and doesn't even survive Ragnarok. Marvel Thor has defeated the Midgard Serpent and not only survived Ragnarok, but broke its cycle. Thor Odinson takes this rather easily
What with the new movie coming out, I thought it would be fun to mainly compare/contrast the differences between the two. (& of course argue that Marvel Thor would get his tights-wearing ass creamed :) )
First, the look:
Being that he's a character of the oral tradition, myth, & folklore, we don't have a lot to go on with regards to exactly how Trad. Thor is "supposed" to look, but we know he's a Viking God, so:
he doesn't wear tights.
he doesn't wear aerobic wristbands
he doesn't have those goofy circles on his torso
he doesn't shave (or wax his chest, which I suspect MU Thor does. Often)
he's got red hair
he probably adorns himself in various armors and hides
MU Thor looks like, well....this: Powers:
Trad. Thor:
Absurdely mighty. Was tossing around bundles of bear-skins as a baby. Lifted the Midgard Serpent. Severely damages mountains, wrestles abstract concepts like old age, eats entire oxen, and gets thirsty enough to lower the ocean's water level by a couple inches.
MU Thor:
Can lift about 100 tons.
damage resistant (can take a punch by the Hulk and not die)
Gear:
Trad Thor's stuff:
Mjolnir - forged by the greatest smith in all of Svartlheim, it never misses it's target, magically returns to Thor's hand, and destroys anything it hits. So heavy that only Thor is strong enough to lift it, let alone wield it. Also, it brings goats back from the dead (see below).
Meginjarder - Belt of strength - doubles Thor's already ridiculous strength
Jarngrieper - Metal glove (or pair of gloves..no one's sure). Magic metal gloves that let Thor handle Mjolnir
Tanngrisner & Tanngjost - Thor's mean-ass magic goats. Magic. Goats. They pull his chariot. He can kill them, eat them, then resurrect them by waving Mjolnir over their slaughtered remains.
MU Thor's stuff:
Mjolnir - made by MU Odin. Let's Thor fly, shoots magic energy, controls the weather, opens doors to other dimensions, and seems to have whatever magic power the plot finds handy. One thing MU Thor's hammer does not do: not fail to destroy anything it hits.
Belt of strength - double's Thor's strength, but leaves him weakened after he removes it.
Loki is MU Thor's stepbrother. He's not Trad Thor's stepbrother - Trad Loki is Odin's blood-brother. And Trad Loki & Thor weren't mortal enemies...they wen't on all sorts of adventures together. Later on though, Trad Loki turned straigh-up evil...at first he was just kind of a smartass & a bit of a prick.
MU Thor was sent to Earth so he could learn humility, because he was too arrogant. The Trad. Norse gods wouldn't understand the concept of "Humility-As-A-Virtue" at all. Trad Thor isn't humble & see's no reason he should be. None of the other gods would expect him to humble, & it would never occur to any of them to banish him because he's "too arrogant".
MU Thor inexplicably speaks Elizabethan English. Trad Thor speaks all languages.
Trad Thor loves drinking, fighting, killing, eating, carousing, and wenching. MU Thor...not so much.
So...in a contest betwixt the two, there's really no contest. Trad Thor simply kills MU Thor. We know this would happen because Trad Thor kills stuff all the time, and has no problem with it whatsoever. MU Thor has his MU-Superhero-Avengers problem with killing, and MU Thor's hammer doesn't seem particularly lethal anyway - for the most part it tends to knock his enemies back & cause them to crash through a wall or something. Trad Thor's hammer straight up kills stuff. All the time. Oh, and Trad Thor is waaaay stronger. He's ridiculously strong...he's like SA Superman-level strong. MU Thor can lift 100 tons. Trad Thor eats 100 tons of oxen for breakfast (literally...he really does this.)
But none of that really matters. The assertion, "Trad Thor effortlessly murders MU Thor" really needs no more argumentation than this: Look at them. Just....look at them:
A two-fisted, hard-drinkin', monster-murdering primal force of nature in a bad outfit. Nothing more. Just because he looks like Fabio doesn't make him act like it. Clothes do not make the man. For the record, Thor hasn't wore that outfit for at least 5 years not. He looks like this nowadays:
" A two-fisted, hard-drinkin', monster-murdering primal force of nature in a bad outfit. Nothing more. Just because he looks like Fabio doesn't make him act like it. Clothes do not make the man. For the record, Thor hasn't wore that outfit for at least 5 years not. He looks like this nowadays:
X-Factor 211
"
Nope. Still not doin' it for me. Still no comparison.
As a character, MU Thor is woefully poor substitution for the original.
Trad Thor was all about the Id - he was Badass Warrior Manliness & Violent Weather personified.
Here's what Lore Sjoberg said about Trad Thor over at www.bookofratings.com/norsegods.html
"Very different from the Fabioesque Marvel superhero, the original Thor defined macho centuries before muscle cars and chaps even existed. We're dealing with a being who owned magical goats which he slaughtered and ate every night. The next day they came back to life, he'd have them pull his divine cart for a while, then he'd eat 'em again! This is an entity who lost only one drinking contest is his entire existence, and then only because as it turned out he was drinking the entire sea and didn't realize it. Not big on perception skills, but he sure could hold his liquor and/or seawater. A"
Lore was right. "A" indeed.
MU Thor is...not like that. At all. A totally different guy, MU Thor is a Lee/Kirby Marvel Superhero created in the early '60's, so he's all about Humility, Being Good, Drinking Responsibly, Being A Good Role Model For the Kids, Justice, Elizabethan English, & Not Straight-Up Killing His Enemies.
And Thor laughs at your blond, tights-wearing, chest-waxing, aerobicizing, responsibly-drinking, only-kills-when-he-absolutely-positively-needs-to, baby-faced, torso-circle-enthusiast!
MU Thor's okay, but he's not a guy actual Vikings would have really worshipped....that's all I'm sayin'.
@El_Nastro: Right, so have you ever actually, y'know, read a Thor comic? Because the image you have of Thor seems to be more like Captain America and Superman, rather than the hammer-smiting badass who kills monsters by the truckload and is more or less the ultimate Marvel Earth has to offer in terms of power? Sure, he's undoubtedly more restrained than the original. That doesn't make him a pansy.
Furthermore, how does any of that reflect on their capabilities as a warrior? Because this is a battle thread after all. Not a popularity and "who's more manly?" contest.
" @El_Nastro: Right, so have you ever actually, y'know, read a Thor comic? Because the image you have of Thor seems to be more like Captain America and Superman, rather than the hammer-smiting badass who kills monsters by the truckload and is more or less the ultimate Marvel Earth has to offer in terms of power? Sure, he's undoubtedly more restrained than the original. That doesn't make him a pansy. Furthermore, how does any of that reflect on their capabilities as a warrior? Because this is a battle thread after all. Not a popularity and "who's more manly?" contest. "
One of the interesting things about the magical world of Viking Folklore & Myth, is that there is a 1:1 correspondence between "manliness" & "capability as a warrior".
Sorry dude, sometimes there's just no improving on the original, no matter how many torso-circles you add.
"One of the interesting things about the magical world of Viking Folklore & Myth, is that there is a 1:1 correspondence between "manilness" & "capability as a warrior". Sorry dude, sometimes there's just no improving on the original, no matter how many torso-circles you add. "
Too bad we're not living in a magical Viking world...
"One of the interesting things about the magical world of Viking Folklore & Myth, is that there is a 1:1 correspondence between "manilness" & "capability as a warrior". Sorry dude, sometimes there's just no improving on the original, no matter how many torso-circles you add. "
Too bad we're not living in a magical Viking world... "
Too true, too true.
We're about as far from living in a magical Viking world as we are from living in a magical comic book world.
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