Mjolnir

History

Mjolnir is the enchanted hammer wielded by Thor. It was forged by the legendary dwarf weaponsmith Eitri.

In Marvel:

Mjolnir was made the hammer from the mystical ore Uru. It has a long metal hilt made of Uru and is wraped in a strip of leather witch ends with a thong to secure it around the bearer's hand. Mjolnir means "That Which Smashes". When the dwarves started to build Mjolnir, they used the inner core of a star as a mold and while they were shaping the hammer inside the core, the star is destroyed and the following supernova almost destroyed Earth, and it did kill off the dinosaurs. When Mjolnir was finished, Odin first used it to defeat the leader of the Frost Giants, Laufey. Later, Thor received the hammer after proving himself worthy after going through Odin's trials.It is almost Impervious to any attack.

Mjolnir bore the following inscription at first discovery by Blake:

"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor"

An old enchantment meaning if Thor was parted for more than 60 seconds he reverted back to Donald Blake was taken away.

Worthiness

As the inscription states, only those deemed worthy by the enchantments of Mjolnir may even lift the hammer. Those who are worthy of wielding Mjolnir gain all of Thor's powers (with the exception of the godblast). Some who have been able to wield Mjolnir: Odin, Thor, Bor, Captain America, Thunderstrike, Beta Ray Bill, Buri, Red Norvell, and Awesome Andy. Thor once stated that Hercules is worthy of wielding Mjolnir, though Hercules has never tried. The ability to wield Mjolnir is not necessarily permanent, and may also depend on need. In "The Reigning," King Thor was temporarily unable to pick up Mjolnir despite possessing the Odin Force, having strayed from his originally honorable path. Beta Ray Bill lost the ability to pick up Stormbreaker in Godhunter, when he was chasing Galactus for vengeance despite Thor's warnings and advice.

Those who have been deemed worthy to wield Mjolnir in Alternate Universes are:

• Superman
• Wonder Woman
• Crusader
• Dargo
• Conan the Barbarian
• Magni
• Loki
• Rogue
• Spider-Man
• Hulk
• Doop
• Alex Power

Powers

As the inscription states, Mjolnir grants its users "the power of Thor." The most prominent of these powers are flight, shown to reach speeds far in excess of the speed of light, and electrical discharge, often demonstrated by either blasts of lightning lightning or by calling it from the sky. Mjolnir is also able to absorb most types of energy, allows the manipulation of weather patterns to create massive storms, and has the ability to return to its wielder once thrown. In the past, Mjolnir has been shown capable of more obscure powers including time travel, time stops, and transmuting objects, but Thor has rarely called on it to perform in such a fashion. The most powerful attack Mjolnir is capable of channeling is the God-blast , This is possible without, but it is less concentrated on a single target.

Other Versions

Several weapons have been created that were similar to Mjolnir. After showing himself worthy to wield Mjolnir and proving himself deserving, Odin forged Stormbreaker for Beta Ray Bill, which has the same enchantments as Mjolnir except anyone unworthy who touches it is struck with lighting from the hammer and only Bill and Thor can wield it. Thunderstrike's mace granted Eric Masterson some of the powers of Thor. Thor's brother Loki has also made copies of Mjolnir in the past, as have people permitted to use the forge Mjolnir was created in.

Recently Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic created a copy of Mjolnir for a cyborg clone of Thor (called Ragnarok) which they created to decide the outcome of the Civil War. This copy most likely did not have the same powers as the original, and was technologically based rather than enchanted. It was, however, shown to generate concussive blasts of electrical energy (one of which was used to kill Goliath), and may have granted the wielder with the ability to fly (although since the clone of Thor was part robot it may have been the clone doing the flying and not Mjolnir).

Ultimate Mjolnir

Ultimate Thor's hammer bears little resemblance to its 616 counterpart. The handle of ultimate Mjolnir is longer, and comes to a point at the bottom where there is also a leather thong. Rather than a solid, square block of metal for a hammer, ultimate Mjolnir's head resembles a hammer on one size, and has an axe blade on the other. Similar to its 616 counterpart, ultimate Mjolnir's enchantments allow ultimate Thor to fly, teleport, control and manipulate weather (particularly storms), as well as channel thunder and lightning. Ultimate Thor was revealed to have an arsenal of enchanted weapons, including a hammer that resembles the 616 version of Mjolnir.

Other Media

Film

Iron Man 2

Mjolnir makes an appearance in Iron Man 2. It can be seem at the end of the film after the closing credits

Thor (2011)

Mjolnir is featured in the Thor live action movies as Thor's primary weapon. It displayed many attributes common to its comic counterpart such as flight, weather manipulation and electrical discharge.

The Avengers (2012)

Mjolnir is again featured in The Avengers, where Thor plays a prominent role. It is used effectively against the Hulk and Iron Man but is unable to penetrate Captain America's Shield. It demonstrates several abilities, including flight, electrical discharge, weather manipulation, and the ability to return to Thor's hand. Its enchantment also proves strong enough to prevent even the Hulk from lifting it.

1980s

• Thor's Donald Blake identity appeared in the 1980s Spider-Man episode "Wrath of the Sub-Mariner" voiced by Jack Angel.
• Thor appeared in an episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends titled "Vengeance of Loki" (1981/1982).

• Thor appeared in the live action television film The Incredible Hulk Returns. Thor was played by Eric Allan Kramer, and Donald Blake by Steve Levitt. In this version Blake does not transform into Thor, but rather they were two separate individuals. Donald Blake was a former student of Bruce Banner, and tracked down Banner to ask for his help. Blake was a mountaineer as well as a doctor and was climbing a mountain in Norway when he felt the need to get to the top of the mountain, and there he found a cave in which he found the hammer Mjolnir. When he shouted " Odin!" Blake summoned the Viking warrior Thor, who was a spirit that cannot be admitted into Asgard until he has proved himself worthy. At first Banner was skeptical of Blake's story, but when Blake summoned Thor, his story was verified. Thor accidentally caused Banner to turn into the Hulk and the two fought to a standstill, but later Thor and the Hulk worked together to defeat a common enemy. Before the events of the movie Blake was always being overruled by Thor; but with the help of his former mentor (Banner), he was able to establish a more equal footing with Thor. In this movie Thor is portrayed as a fun-loving warrior who is very happy drinking beer, fighting with men, and carousing with women.

1990s

• Thor guest stars in two episodes of the Fantastic Four animated series voiced by John Rhys-Davies. In "To Battle the Living Planet", the Fantastic Four help him fight Ego the Living Planet. In "When Comes Galactus", he and Ghost Rider help the Fantastic Four fight Galactus.
• John Rhys-Davies reprises his role as Thor in the Incredible Hulk episode "Mortal Bounds" while Mark L. Taylor voicing Donald Blake. Donald as Thor brought Hulk to Detroit so that Bruce Banner can help cure a gamma-based outbreak unknowingly caused by Gargoyle (in his search to cure his disfigurement).
• Thor makes a cameo the X-Men animated series episode "The Dark Phoenix Saga (Part 3): The Dark Phoenix", when the Phoenix rises up into the sky her mind shows him.
• Thor appears in the introduction for The Avengers: United They Stand, but was never actually featured in the show.

2000s

Thor is featured in the Cartoon Network animated series The Super Hero Squad Show voiced by Dave Boat.Here, he is a narcissistic, but loyal member of the team who is in love with the Valkyrie. He has an intense sibling rivalry with his brother Loki, who claims "Odin always liked you better." In the comic series that followed the show, it is revealed that Thor and Iron Man are both equal leaders of the Super Hero Squad, although this was never mentioned in the show and Iron Man usually leads the Squad by himself anyway.

2010s

• Thor is featured in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Rick D. Wasserman, In this version, Thor chooses to come to Earth to use his powers to help mortals, despite the protests of Odin.
• Marvel Animation announced a 26-episode animated series in November 2008, to air in late 2010 before the release of Marvel Studios' film.

Marvel Animation

• An animated version of Ultimate Thor appears in Marvel Animation's direct-to-video animated features Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2 voiced by Dave Boat.
• Thor makes an appearance in the direct-to-video animated movie Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow voiced by Michael Adamthwaite.
• Thor appears as the protagonist in the direct-to-video animated short film Hulk vs. Thor voiced by Matthew Wolf.
• Thor makes a brief appearance in the film Planet Hulk (2010) along side Beta Ray Bill.
• Thor will appear again in Thor: Tales of Asgard, an animated direct-to-video feature scheduled to be released in 2011, voiced again by Matthew Wolf.

Pronunciation

Mjolnir is pronounced "Mmyol'-neer"