Why do people call Thor a Superman Clone?

Granted there are a few similarities, they're both super strong, can fly, and wear red capes but once you get past those very few surface similarities they have virtually nothing in common.

Origins

Superman- Alien born on the planet Krypton, his home world blows up so he gets sent to Earth. Raised by farmers in Kansas, becomes a reporter and starts saving the world and what not.

Thor- Son of Asgardian God and Elder Goddess, born on Earth (Norway, look it up). Raised by said Asgardian god on Asgard, He got arrogant, father tosses him back to Earth to learn humility in the form of a handicapped doctor, finds a stick in Norway that turns out to be a hammer and becomes Thor again.

Arch Enemies

Superman- Lex Luthor billionaire mad scientist with a god complex

Thor- Loki Sibling rivalry on a scale befitting gods.

Powers

Superman- Flight, Super Strength, Invulnerability, Super Speed, Heat Vision, X-Ray Vision, Telescopic vision, Super hearing, super breath (several others that have been added and taken away over the years)

Thor- Flight via Hammer, Super Strength, High endurance, Weather control, Teleportation via the Hammer, God blast

Personalities

Superman- Hopeful, optimistic, tries to see the best in people, doesn't particularly like violence despite having to use it.

Thor- Warrior who loves to fight, holds grudges, won't hesitate to kill if the situation calls for it.

Okay so with this in mind someone explain how Thor is a Superman clone.

I was not aware he was thought as, as a Superman clone.

...Like marvel made Thor using a Superman model? I wouldn't call that cloning. Just using good ideas.

@joshmightbe: he is based on the superman archetype, superstrenght and flight. I dont consider him a clone though as that would be an insult to superman given how horrible a character Thor is.

@kingsloth: Thor is a great character he's just been afflicted with terrible writers

@joshmightbe said:

@kingsloth: Thor is a great character he's just been afflicted with terrible writers

Sadly since his inception

Durr Thor has super strength, flight, and red cape. They so similar. Durr hurr...

@kingsloth: He's had a few good runs, and if you've been reading all his stories since he first came out then obviously there has to be something you like and if you don't read his stories regularly you wouldn't really know for sure that he's never had a good arc

@joshmightbe: the fact you say hes had a few good rubs, and not lots of good runs says it all.

Uh... Superman was created by ink in the late 1930's... (75 years ago)

Thor was carved on stone tablet in the late 600's AD.. (1,413 years ago)

Who's copying who?

I wasn't even aware he was considered a Superman Clone

I have seen some level of nerd retardation, this is just...

cray

Eh, it's because they're both the big bricks at the forefront of their company. Thor is obviously not really a duplicate of Superman.

I always find topics like this one funny, the "Why's do people call..." topics, because they're always things I've never heard anyone say before.

@joshmightbe: the fact you say hes had a few good rubs, and not lots of good runs says it all.

@7am_Waking_Up_In_The_Morning said:

Uh... Superman was created by ink in the late 1930's... (75 years ago)

Thor was carved on stone tablet in the late 600's AD.. (1,413 years ago)

Who's copying who?

No wonder Stan Lee looks so old.

@impossibilly: This is based on a few arguments I had yesterday.

@WaveMotionCannon said:

@kingsloth

@joshmightbe: the fact you say hes had a few good rubs, and not lots of good runs says it all.

Like Superman's been batting 1000. Silver Age cornballery ( I made that up lol), Red and Blue Supes etc.

His batting average is higher than Thor's for sure, but red and blue superman was atrocious.

@7am_Waking_Up_In_The_Morning said:

Uh... Superman was created by ink in the late 1930's... (75 years ago)

Thor was carved on stone tablet in the late 600's AD.. (1,413 years ago)

Who's copying who?

Superman was not copying the Thor myth (and vice versa. I do not consider Thor a Superman clone). Just because something came after something else does not mean it was copying it.

He's not a superman clone

He's not. And even if he was, why would it matter?

@kingsloth: Don't turn this in to a Superman vs Thor thread and also this is not a question of quality so this argument is kind of derailing the thread.

@guttridgeb: Honestly I'm a fan of both characters and it doesn't really matter I was just curious as to why some would think this despite the fact that they have very little in common

@joshmightbe: Fair enough. It kind of irritates me when people refuse to give characters a try because they think the character is a rip-off :)

It's probably because of the x-ray vision.

@guttridgeb: It they say something about Gladiator or Hyperion being Superman clones I get it cause they are pretty blatant but I don't get when people think that every character that has even a passing similarity is a Superman clone. Take for instance Mar-Vel aside from both being flying aliens they have practically nothing in common yet some people call him a Super clone.

@joshmightbe: I get the whole Superman-clone thing, Hyperion is a pretty blatant rip-off. I just don't understand what's wrong with that :)

@guttridgeb: I have seen some Superman rip offs that are blatant and genuinely awful but sometimes you can get a really great character out of it. Look at Omni Man in Invincible. He's was a rip off and they turned the fact into a major plot line for the entire series that was actually better than some of the stories running in actual Superman at the time.

@joshmightbe:

I think it has some small relation to how DC comics got Captain Marvel, by suing Fawcett comics for making a character too much like Superman, and since Captain Marvel and Thor are more closely related people may associate Thor as "another Superman clone." Personally though I have never heard anyone call Thor a copy of Supes, and anyone who thinks so... >Sigh< just... >sigh< idiots.

@guttridgeb: Not to mention the fact that pretty much all super heroes are pretty much based off one of three basic mythological archetypes

@joshmightbe: Who would you say are the archetypes? I'm guessing Heracles will be one of them.

@7am_Waking_Up_In_The_Morning said:

Uh... Superman was created by ink in the late 1930's... (75 years ago)

Thor was carved on stone tablet in the late 600's AD.. (1,413 years ago)

Who's copying who?

Mrvel Thor has little similarity's to the mythical Thor

Because they do not know anything about Thor

@guttridgeb: Hercules is the best example of the God/ Demigod archetype which Superman falls under as well. I know he's not a god but its not meant as completely literal the other two are the warrior which would be like Wolverine and the trickster which I believe Spiderman falls under.

Basically the God/Demigod archetype is the heroes with the awe inspiring power levels

Warrior is the guys that are either street level or low to mid level superhumans that are more likely to use physical means to get things done

The Tricksters use their wits as their primary weapon.

I was not aware he was thought as, as a Superman clone.

I haven't seen anyone who says that.

Clone probably isn't the right word. Its like saying Superman is a clone of mythological Hercules when its more accurate to say that Superman's writers considered Hercules and cite mythological Hercules as helping them in the foundation of Superman. Likewise Marvels Thor also considered and drew on Superman when creating him (Stan Lee and Kirby being all about the competitive one up man ship), so hence why some accurately refer to this similarity the characters have, because its intentional. So its about considering the similarities characters have as much as the differences. Some people who probably talk about this - their comments may be oversimplified or dummied down by other users as well of course.

First time ive heard someone say it.