History Characters / GodOfWarSeriesThor

[[caption-width-right:350:''"You seem like a calm and reasonable person. Are you... a '''calm and reasonable person?'''"''']]

* TheDreaded: '''Everyone''' is terrified of Thor. And considering his insane arrival to Kratos's house in ''Ragnarök'' and the fact that he's able to fight the Spartan to a standstill (something that even [[spoiler: Baldur]] couldn't do ''while he was still invulnerable''), they have every right to be.

** On the receiving side: Odin consistently uses Thor as his DumbMuscle, even telling him [[IDontPayYouToThink not to think too had about his orders and to just do them]]. Odin, also known for being a manipulator and liar, makes Thor subservient by playing on Thor's regrets and his bad habits. [[spoiler:Just before the FinalBoss fight against Odin, Kratos seems to have finally gotten through to Thor that he can choose to be better, especially for the sake of his children. Odin even tries telling Thor to kill Kratos, but Thor answers with a hard "no" to Odin's command. As a result, Thor [[HeelFaceDoorSlam can't act on this new development]] when Odin kills Thor.]]

* BeyondRedemption: [[spoiler:Double subverted. Thor hates himself so much that he believes there's no chance he can redeem himself after causing Modi's death and slaughtering the jötnar. When Kratos manages to convince him that there is a chance to redeem himself through Thrud, Odin kills him for disobeying him before he could do so.]]

* AbusiveParents: When Modi returns to him in failure, Thor apparently blames him for leaving Magni to die and beats him bloody to the point that he cannot stand properly. Downplayed, as when he shows up for his initial boss fight in ''Ragnarök'', he makes it clear [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes he's avenging Modi too.]] It's also implied that him beating Modi bloody was a moment of weakness, and he's completely fallen into a self-destructive spiral over the deaths of his sons, so he ''does'' in fact love both of them. Mimir later clarifies that he and Sif were abusive towards Magni and Modi, but later came to regret it and realized their shortcomings after the deaths of Magni and Modi, pledging themselves to be better for the sake of their only surviving child Thrúd.

** In first chapter of the Norse saga, Thor's main flaw is his wrath. A ghost claims that Thor offered his condolences after the death of father but got so drunk that he became murderously angry after the ghost's mother asked him to leave when he outstayed his welcome. [[spoiler:After the death of Magni, he beats his surviving son, Modi, to a point where he can't stand or defend himself.]]
** In Ragnarok, his main flaw is subservience. What Thor wants above all else is to have Odin say that he's proud of him and will do anything his father will tell him to. Unfortunately, after the deaths of Magni and Modi, he's now fully aware of the atrocities he's committed in Odin's name and has accepted that he'll never earn Odin's approval and that he's beyond redemption. Something Atreus, Kratos, Mimir, Sif, and Thrud try to convince isn't true and there's always a chance to do the right thing and he must start by standing up to Odin.

* TruerToTheText: Downplayed; this version of Thor is much more [[AdaptationalVillainy violent, bloodthirsty]], and overall [[AdaptationalAngstUpgrade flawed]] than the protector of humanity and force of good from Norse myths ever was, but he is also quite closer to how Thor was described than the romanticized later versions seen in works such as ''Art/ThorsFightWithTheGiants'' and ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'', in which Thor is clean-shaved, blonde, and more conventionally noble, handsome and heroic. In the games, Thor is large, red-haired, and has long hair, fierce eyes and a long beard, exactly like how he is described in the Eddas and in The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, as well as problems with alcoholism and a protuberant belly, referencing his large appetite and fondness for drinking seen in several myths, such as the Þrymskviða and in the tale of Utgarda-Loki. His [[BloodKnight short-tempered and violent personality]], while very exaggerated, also has plenty of basis in the myths, such as when he threatened to break all of Loki's bones in the ''Lokasenna'' if he didn't stop making insults, when he got angry with how the giantess Hyrrokkin shook the ground by shoving Baldr’s enormous funerary ship and would have immediately cracked her skull with Mjolnir if the other gods hadn’t stopped him, and when he kicked a dwarf, called Litr, into Baldur's funeral pyre out of anger and grief over his unexpected death in the ''Gylfaginning''.

* BadassBaritone: He speaks with an impressively deep, rumbling voice that almost puts Kratos' own deep voice to shame.

* ShellShockedVeteran: [[spoiler:While he puts on the facade of a "destroyer" and tells himself he is one out of self-loathing, it quickly becomes apparent that Thor actually ''hates'' the violence and war Odin forces him to engage in and suffers deeply from PTSD, depression, and alcoholism as a result of it.]]

* StrongAndSkilled: In stark contrast to Magni and Modi, who display a clear lack of skill and preference to rely on their godly powers, described as merely lackies compared to the Aesirs on the higher scale like Baldur, Thor is hailed as Odin's most valued enforcer for being both the physically strongest Aesir ''and'' Asgard's deadliest warrior, as displayed by both his fights with Kratos, where he is not only strong enough to physically rival a serious Kratos, but also has the combat skills needed to match Kratos's staunch fighting prowess, being the only one thus far who has been able to fight Kratos to a literal stalemate in their first fight and only narrowly losing their second match.

* SympathyForTheDevil: [[spoiler: Although he's rightfully hated for the role he played in slaying the giants, Atreus, Kratos, and Mimir can't help but pity him; Atreus understands how Thor feels because he too has a father who's overbearing and overshadowing, Kratos understands Thor's guilt and shared his fear that he's irredeemable, and Mimir understands how Thor feels about wanting to better himself through the love of someone else and realizing that he was a bad person. In the end, Kratos is the one who gets through to Thor by sharing the experience of being a father and tells Thor that what Thor did in the past doesn't matter as long as he redeems himself now through his daughter.]]

* VomitIndiscretionShot: After his sorrow-drowning drinkfest turned bar-fight, in which Thrud and Atreus unceremoniously drag him out the bar to continue with Odin's mission, he suffers a hangover, causing him to have to pause during his mission with Atreus to throw up on the floor of Niflheim.

* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Despite his vices, he does love Sif and his children equally, but his anger or drinking get the better of him.

-->''His bloodlust is for the fight itself, not for the suffering it inflicts.

* SanityHasAdvantages: He's actually more dangerous when he's sober. In the first battle, his attacks appear more disciplined and focused, to the point where he actually beats Kratos in a fight and leaves with satisfaction after Kratos loses his composure and punches him hard enough to knock out one of his teeth. [[spoiler: When he fights Kratos during Ragnarok, his attacks are wilder and he relies more on overkill tactics because he's too angry to listen to Kratos.]]

* BarbarianLongHair: Thor has long disheveled hair, accentuating his impulsive and unkempt appearance.

* BloodKnight: Mimir describes him as the "biggest butchering bastard in the Nine Realms" and believes that Thor jumped at the opportunity to kill the Jotnar out of sadism, not because they have role in Ragnarök. And during his first battle with Kratos, he is clearly having the time of his life, laughing and cracking jokes throughout the fight. [[spoiler:Ultimately deconstructed, as it gradually becomes clear that while he ''does'' enjoy playful sparring or battling monsters, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome actually serious conflict like the wars and genocide that his father forces him to take part in just leave him horrified, disturbed, traumatized, and depressed]]. He was also purposefully raised by said abusive father as a weapon, and that upbringing has left deep scars on Thor, such as a self-loathing certainty that he's incapable of being anything more than a murderer and a brute.]] The journal, written from Kratos' point of view, cites this as the greatest difference between him and Baldur. [[CombatSadomasochist Baldur got off on inflicting pain]]. Thor enjoys combat himself, not the pain he causes which makes him far more purposeful in his attacks.

''Norse Era:'' [[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesNorseGods Gods]] ([[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesOdin Odin]] | '''Thor''' | [[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesMimir Mimir]] | [[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesBaldur Baldur]] | [[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesFreya Freya]]) | [[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesJotnar Jotnar]] | [[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesOtherCharacters Other Characters]] ([[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesSindriAndBrok Sindri and Brok]]) | [[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesNorseMonsters Monsters]]-]]]]]

* IconicItem: Mjolnir is so iconic that when Kratos asks who Thor is, he is able to answer the question by simply moving his cloak to reveal the hammer on his belt.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the DrunkenMaster. Thor was always imagined to be fond of drink and he famously (and unknowingly) drank a 3rd of the ocean in a contest against Utgard-Loki in Norse mythology. [[spoiler: His drinking habits were written at that point to show that Thor is a man of the people who bonds with them by sharing stories and sharing a drink at the bar. In the game, however, Thor's love of alcohol is actually a sign of a major character flaw and it was just a way for Odin to keep Thor under his thumb as he drunkenly kills people whenever Odin orders him to. By the time of ''Ragnarok'', it is shown that Thor is actually a deeply troubled man who's struggling to better himself for the sake of his wife and daughter after realizing how badly alcohol has dominated his life and how horrible a person he was when he was drunk. Thor now understands that his father sees him as nothing more than a vicious lapdog after enduring Odin's comments while sober, he abused his children, and Thor caused the death of Modi, his own son, by being violently drunk. After Thor slaughtered the giants and drove the survivors into hiding, he reflected on his actions and realized that he killed them for no reason and chooses to blame himself instead of standing up to Odin. When he's shown drunkenly fighting in a bar brawl, it's all fun and games to him until he realizes how badly he's upset and let down Thrud by relapsing into alcoholism in a moment of weakness after 3-4 years of sobriety and forced her and Sif to take care of him.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the DrunkenMaster. Thor was always imagined to be fond of drink and he famously (and unknowingly) drank a 3rd of the ocean in a contest against Utgard-Loki in Norse mythology. In the game, Thor's struggling to live with the fact that his father sees him as nothing more than a vicious lapdog, he's outlived his sons and caused the death of Modi by being violently drunk. When he's shown drunkenly fighting in a bar brawl, it's all fun and games to him until he realizes how badly he's upset and let down his daughter.

* BareYourMidriff: His armour exposes his stomach, and the large gash Kratos left behind in their first fight. This wasn't the case in the 2018 game however, where he wears full body armor.

* TravelToProjectile: Thor can bring himself to Mjlönir just as easily as he can recall it to him. He demonstrates so in his opening strike against Kratos, when he sends the former god of war flying across Midgard by his chin before catcheing up to him midflight, to growl to Kratos about the blood debt he owes him. Later Thor uses the same ability to traverse tall heights in Muspelheim and Niflheim alongside [[spoiler:Atreus.]]

** In Ragnarok, his main flaw is subservience. What Thor wants above all else is to have Odin say that he's proud of him but is so scared of him at the same time that he does whatever he's told, even though he found Odin's orders to be confusing and ethically troubling.

** In Ragnarok, his main flaw is [[spoiler:subservience]]. Unable to face his greatest demon head-on, he instead takes his wrath on everything else, mostly by drinking or bullying the weak.

* NeverMyFault: He blames Kratos and Atreus for the death of his sons and refused to acknowledge his own involvement or the fact that they attacked first. Especially in Modi's case where after he fled, Thor beat him up so bad to the point that he couldn't even try to dodge or block the knife that atreus stabbed him with. In his first battle with Kratos, when the God of War brought this up he shrugs it off before engaging him in a BladeLock, and later when he pins Atreus during their bried team up he still solely blames him for Modi's death. This is actually downplayed, since Thor ''does'' feel immense guilt over what he's done, it's just that his mind was too clouded to make better judgement other than blaming and taking revenge on his sons killers.