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Thor is a global sensation. In the movies, Chris Hemsworth brings this god to life, displaying his might—though he has a tendency to leave his shirt behind. But beyond the silver screen, there are several odd and unexpected Thor stories that even the most dedicated fans might not know about.
10. Once, He Was Transformed into a Super-Powered Frog
While the movies tend to spotlight the more serious side of Loki, Thor's trickster brother, as he plots to seize control of Asgard and Earth, the comics show a more playful side. Loki’s journey to world domination is often interrupted by outrageous pranks, including one infamous incident where he turned Thor into a frog.
Although Thor kept some of his powers and divine wisdom, he was now the size of an ordinary frog. Things took an even stranger turn when he found himself caught in a bizarre war between rats and frogs in Central Park. Later, his hammer was returned to him, which turned him back into a humanoid form—but still a frog. After countless frog-inspired adventures, which surely kept Deviant Art busy for years, Thor managed to stop Loki. His godly friend Volstagg helped restore Thor to his usual, handsome form.
9. He Has an Alien Doppelgänger
The movie Age of Ultron had its share of comedic moments revolving around Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, and its strict rule that only the worthy can lift it. While the film cleverly hints at varying degrees of worthiness by showing the hammer move slightly when Captain America touches it, the comics have a much longer history of worthy beings—including an alien named Beta Ray Bill.
Beta Ray Bill is a Korbinite alien who once fought Thor and proved his worth by lifting Mjolnir. Both were then transported to Asgard, where Odin ordered them to battle to decide who would keep the hammer. Bill won but refused to kill Thor, so Odin returned Mjolnir to Thor and forged a new weapon, Stormbreaker, for Bill. Bill spends most of his time being a space hero, resembling a bizarre alien version of Thor, though the magic in his hammer often calls him back to assist Thor and the other Asgardians.
8. The Heroes Created a Deadly Robot Clone of Thor
In the midst of a comic civil war, the hero community was torn apart. Iron Man advocated for superpowered individuals to register with SHIELD, while Captain America led a rebellion, opposing the infringement on heroes' secret identities. Although the real Thor was absent during this conflict, Iron Man decided to involve him in a different way.
It is later revealed that Iron Man had kept some strands of Thor's hair from their first encounter with the Avengers. Using this DNA and technological help from Ant-Man (Hank Pym), he created a clone of Thor. This clone served as both a symbol for the registration side and a powerful ally in their cause. However, things took a turn for the worse: the clone, designed to only target rebel heroes, ended up killing Giant Man, marking the first real bloodshed in the civil war.
7. Thor Launches a Nuclear Attack on China
Thor, like many iconic comic book characters, has had his share of stories that are considered politically outdated. One notable example is Journey Into Mystery #63, where Thor confronts Communist China. After he defeats the Red Army in a battle, they retaliate by sending their own super-powered weapon, Radioactive Man, to attack New York. The fight initially seems to be going Radioactive Man’s way as he hypnotizes Thor and tosses his hammer into the ocean. But Thor soon recovers and prevents Radioactive Man from destroying New York. This is where things take a bizarre turn.
Thor summons a tornado to hurl Radioactive Man back to China. The villain warns Thor that the sudden impact will cause him to reach critical mass, resulting in a nuclear explosion. Thor’s witty response? “That’s your problem, my radioactive friend!” The story ends with a massive atomic blast in China, as leaders watch in shock and dismay.
6. His Half-Brother Is A God-Eater
Thanks to Marvel’s cinematic universe, many of Thor’s family members are well-known: the stern yet caring Odin, the mischievous Loki, and the gentle Frigga. However, in the comics, Thor uncovers two shocking truths: His true mother is Gaea, the embodiment of Mother Nature (which explains his deep connection to Earth over his homeland of Asgard). Additionally, because Gaea is his biological mother, Thor has a half-brother named Atum, who has a secret identity of his own—Demogorge, the god-eater.
The title of god-eater is fitting, as Atum possesses the power to consume the gods he kills and absorb their abilities. Despite his terrifying moniker and immense destructive potential, Atum is generally a force for good. The gods he slays are typically evil or demonic, although his battles with them often have devastating side effects. One of the most notable consequences was the extinction of the dinosaurs due to his long struggle with the demon Set.
5. He Once Aided Hitler
Captain America and his team, The Invaders, were no strangers to battling Adolf Hitler. However, in The Invaders #33, they encounter Thor assisting the Nazis in an attempt to assassinate Joseph Stalin. When Thor fails to complete the mission, he uses Mjolnir to convey his failure to Hitler, who angrily scolds the thunder god. It is revealed that Hitler’s ultimate plan involves summoning all the Norse gods to destroy his enemies. As bizarre as that may sound, all it took for Thor to become a would-be assassin was a polite request from Hitler.
Thor does eventually kill Stalin with a bolt of lightning, but in a surprising twist, it is revealed that Stalin was actually Union Jack in disguise. Around this time, Thor's hammer starts transmitting dialogue from Hitler, which reveals the tyrant's plans for world domination. Regretting his actions, Thor magically revokes his fatal lightning strike, resurrecting Union Jack. It turns out that the transmission from Hitler was orchestrated by his assistant, Hans, who was actually Dr. Doom in disguise. Dr. Doom had been manipulating Hitler to test how it would feel to face off against the superhero community.
4. He Had a Floating Kingdom Above Oklahoma
Though Thor is most often seen on Earth, his homeland of Asgard was a place of its own, where Viking gods reveled in feasts and epic family dramas unfolded across a distant rainbow road. The worlds collided, however, when Thor was given the opportunity to rebuild Asgard, and he oddly chose to construct it as a floating kingdom above Broxton, Oklahoma.
This led to humorous events, such as Thor purchasing the land beneath the floating kingdom by offering a humble farmer anything he wanted from Asgard’s treasure vault. He also convinced Iron Man that, since it was floating and not on U.S. soil, the kingdom was exempt from American laws. Sadly, things came crashing down when the city was attacked by the U.S.-backed Green Goblin, who managed to convince America that the gods posed a threat, leading to the complete destruction of Asgard by the Superman-like hero, Sentry.
3. He Was Once Portrayed as a Hippie Cult Leader
As we’ve previously mentioned, many of the foundational elements of Marvel’s popular cinematic universe were established years earlier in their Ultimate comics line. These stories exist in a separate universe, offering writers the creative freedom to deviate from continuity, while ensuring that readers didn’t need to be versed in decades of character lore. One of the more amusing twists in the Ultimate universe was that it took quite some time before Thor was officially revealed as a god. Instead, he was initially portrayed as a down-to-earth leftist who authored books about the dangers of America and the military-industrial complex, earning admiration from his youthful, hippie followers.
This led to some odd moments, such as Thor’s followers dousing Captain America with both beer and insults, seeing him as the embodiment of the country that Thor had long criticized. While Thor's power with the hammer was undeniable, it wasn’t until issue 13 of the second volume of Ultimates—where he led an army of gods to Earth—that the heroes realized Thor wasn’t just a highly political human wielding a powerful hammer.
2. He Was Replaced by His Girlfriend
Thor, as a god, has experienced more deaths and resurrections than most comic characters combined. However, in 2014, he returned in Thor #1 in a way that had never been seen before—reborn as a woman. This was part of Marvel's effort to introduce more diversity into their comics (it coincided with the Falcon assuming the role of Captain America, for example), and they kept the identity of the female Thor’s true identity a secret for over six months before revealing that it was actually Jane Foster, Thor’s human girlfriend who was portrayed by Natalie Portman in the films.
Her transformation was straightforward: After Nick Fury whispered a devastating secret into the original Thor’s ear, he was deemed unworthy to lift his hammer. Jane Foster, however, was able to lift it, having watched Thor wield it for years and knowing exactly what to do. She quickly proved herself, battling evil gods and frost giants, and, like the original Thor, facing Odin’s judgment as being unworthy.
1. Many of His Powers Are Embedded in Mjolnir Itself
Similar to Superman, Thor shares a distinctive trait with the DC hero: Over time, writers have granted him an impressive array of abilities, so many that even the most dedicated readers might struggle to keep track. Beyond wielding his hammer, Mjolnir, Thor can control the weather, create massive rifts in the Earth, and unleash his powerful “god blast.” However, one detail casual Marvel movie fans might not realize is that nearly all of Thor’s powers are actually derived from the hammer itself.
Thor’s god blast, along with the devastating thermo blast and anti-force, all originate from Mjolnir, as does his flight. In fact, unlike Superman, Thor doesn’t technically fly: He uses his incredible strength to throw Mjolnir and holds on as it takes him to his destination. Over the years, depending on the storyline, the hammer has also enabled Thor to teleport, travel through time, and even slay vampires.
