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Giants
Giants in General
Giants in General
The primary enemy of the Norse gods who live in the world of Jotunheim, the land of giants. Ranks includes Frost Giants (including similar ones like Ice Giants or Rime Giants), Storm Giants, Mountain Giants, and even just regular ol' Giants.
- Adaptational Dumbass: With certain exceptions, they are portrayed as much more thuggish, brutal and simple-minded than in Norse myths, in which they had more diversity; while the giants in general were indeed more characterized by their chaotic, monstrous and untamed strength, there were also multiple giants characterized by their wisdom, cunning, guile, knowledge or spellcraft, such as Utgarða-Loki, the seeress Odin consults to learn the meaning of Baldr's baleful dreams, Gríðr, Gróa, Þjazi, and Vafþrúðnir, the last of whom was nearly as wise and knowledgeable as Odin. In fact, some scholars interpret Mimir, the wisest of the Aesir and gatekeeper of the well of wisdom, as a giant. The portrayal of giants as foolish and easy to outwit fits with later, post-medieval tales of folkloric trolls, however.
- Adaptational Villainy: As a whole, they’re far more villainous here than in the original Norse mythos.
- Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed; while powerful, the giants of Marvel are portrayed as gullible and manipulable, being occasionally tricked by Loki, and weak in magic and strategy, preferring brute force over spells. In contrast, in the Norse myths there were some wise and cunning giants with similar powers to the gods, and several of them were highly skilled with magic and sought by Odin. Loki himself had a rough time with some of them in the Eddas, like Þjazi and Geirrod, and many could shapeshift and use powerful illusions that rivaled or surpassed the magic of the Aesir.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Especially in modern depictions. Frost Giants (Loki and descendants excluded) are generally blue and fire giants red, for example, but other odd skin tones can occur too.
- Art Evolution: What giants have looked like over the years various from artist to artist and giant to giant. Sometimes they are shown as primitive, large humans, to things far more monstrous.
- Depending on the Artist: Earlier versions of giants are drawn as giant versions of humans, while other artists draw them as more monstrous creatures in order to make them more distinguishable from each other.
- Dumb Muscle: Most giants are characterised as brutes who are not too bright, though some such as Loki are notable exceptions.
- Stupid Evil: With rare exception, giants are not that bright. Their magic tends to be weak and their society only as advanced as a hunter-gatherer at best. Their fighting strategies tend to be simplistic as well. Often, they are mean for the sake of being mean, which usually pisses off the gods. It gets to the point where the giants would live a lot longer by just staying home.
Loki
Hela
Hela
First Appearance Journey into Mystery (vol. 1) #102
Thanos: You are bold for a woman who has lost everything.
Hela: Bold? I am where the bold go to die. I am Hela. Queen of Niffleheim. Mistress of the damned and the dear departed.
Hela: Bold? I am where the bold go to die. I am Hela. Queen of Niffleheim. Mistress of the damned and the dear departed.
— The Unworthy Thor #5
Hela is a Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who first appeared in Journey into Mystery #102 (dated March 1964). Originally introduced in The Silver Age of Comic Books, Hela has become one of The Mighty Thor's most enduring foes. She has also occasionally allied herself with (and fought against) other Marvel villains such as Loki, Mephisto, The Enchantress and Thanos, as well as played an antagonist role to such Marvel heroes as The Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the New Mutants, Multiple Man and Angela.
Like Hel, her counterpart in Norse Mythology, Hela is the Asgardian Goddess of Death and the ruler of Hel and Niffleheim, ominous ice and mist-covered realms that occupy the bottom (or the roots) of Yggsdrasil and are home to the embodied souls of Asgardians that did not die in battle (those who did die in battle go to Valhalla), as well as the souls of the "dishonored dead".
The alleged daughter of Loki, the God of Mischief, and a Jötunn sorceress called Angerboda, Hela first came to the Allfather Odin's attention when the Norns (the three Goddesses of Fate) warned him that she would pose a great threat to the Nine Realms. Odin, in response, cast her down to Hel and appointed her as the Goddess of Death when she reached majority. Since that time she has frequently come into conflict with both Odin and his son Thor as she has schemed and plotted to conquer Valhalla, Asgard, the Nine Realms and even the universe as a whole. In one story line she went as far as to plot with Loki to bring about Ragnarok, the "Twilight of the Gods". In another she stole a portion of Odin's soul and used it to create a supremely powerful entity called 'Infinity' note which she then unleashed on the universe in a bid for ultimate conquest. The entity took complete control of Odin and caused mass chaos and destruction universe wide as the entity devoured all around it, Midgard especially, where wars raged on endlessly until Thor finally defeated the entity by combining his powers with Loki and Karnilla to separate it from his father for good.
Later (during Walt Simonson's now legendary run on The Mighty Thor), a vengeful Hela cursed Thor with a dark form of immortality wherein he could not die, but his bones were weak and brittle and he could not heal from any wound or injury, therefore making his eternal life nothing more than an endless torture. Of course, this ultimately didn't stick and Thor eventually defeated her and forced her to lift the curse by transferring his soul into the Destroyer and invading Hel.
Over the years she has featured in many more story lines, initially limited to The Mighty Thor and Journey into Mystery books, but recent times have seen her more increasingly crossing over into the wider Marvel universe and interacting with earth-bound characters such as the New Mutants and The Avengers and cosmic characters such as the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thanos and his Black Order.
Hela has appeared in animated form in the Direct to Video movie Hulk Vs. Thor, one episode of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and two episodes of Avengers Assemble. She made her live action debut as the Big Bad in Thor: Ragnarok, the 17th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, played by Cate Blanchett. The MCU version of Hela differs from her comics counterpart in that she is the daughter of Odin rather than Loki and is therefore also the estranged older sister of Thor and the true heir to the throne of Asgard. She is also notable as being the first major female villain in an MCU film. To see tropes about the MCU version of Hela, visit her own character page just here.
- Abusive Parents: In her original back story, Hela was the daughter of Loki, whom she historically has an openly antagonistic relationship with. Loki has never given any real indication that he cares at all about Hela or her well-being and has even openly goaded and mocked her in the past, so it's perhaps not surprising that she has little time for him or his tricks.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Unlike Hel in the original myths, the other half of Hela's face does not look like a rotting corpse. This is later subverted by the reveal that her attractiveness is an upgrade granted by an enchanted Badass Cape. Without it, her appearance is more like her original, mythic form (dead on the left side of her body, living on the right).
- Adaptational Villainy: In the myths, Hel was a neutral entity who only upheld the laws of death. In the comics she started off as a somewhat neutral character but gradually over time became an outright malicious entity.
- Astral Projection: Hela can travel around in her astral form (when her soul leaves her physical body) and still retain all her powers as a Death Goddess. She can remain in her astral form for as long as she wishes unlike human astral projectionists due to her vast super strength and metabolism.
- Back from the Dead: Hela herself has the ability to raise the dead, but she has also been the subject of this trope. During one storyline, Thor was forced to surrender to her to save innocent mortals from her wrath and Odin, knowing that his son's demise was likely, killed Hela in a blind rage. Thor, knowing that Hela is vital to the life/death balance in the Nine Realms, then convinced Odin to bring her back to life.
- Badass Boast: She likes engaging in this to anyone that she deems inferior to herself, which is, well... everyone."Thunder God... accept your fate. None may challenge Hela's will."
- Badass Cape: Her magical cloak is more badass than most. It's pretty much her very life essence itself, with it she's stronger and more powerful than a majority of the Asgardian race (perhaps second only in raw power to Odin himself), but without it she reverts to her 'true form' where the left side of her body is dead and decayed and she's so weak that she can barely stand. With her cloak she appears fully alive and beautiful. She doesn't even need to be wearing the cloak to return to her stronger form, just touching it restores her powers.
- Battle Ballgown: You better believe that Hela has one of these
◊. - Big Bad: Of Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers Prime mini-series where her actions are responsible for trapping The Avengers across separate realms and her theft of Surtur's 'Twilight Sword' grants her the power to remake the Nine Realms in her own twisted image.
- Black Magic: She can summon vast amounts of Asgardian black magic and use it for various things such as firing deadly bolts of energy, creating illusions, limitless astral projection, time travel, levitation and teleportation. She can also halt and redirect Mjölnir itself mid-flight, a trick she's used against Thor more than once.
- Characterization Marches On: Hela was much more merciful and sympathetic in her debut appearance, being closer to the myths, in which she is a neutral deity. In the end of the story, she is moved by Thor's attempt at exchanging his life for Sif's and gladly lets them both be free from her domains. It was only in later stories that she became the unapologetically evil recurring supervillainess she is known for.
- Clothes Make the Superman: As mentioned above, much of her life essence is found in her cloak and being separated from it weakens her greatly.
- Combat Stilettos: Sometimes, Depending on the Artist.
- Cool Helmet: Just look at that thing. Hela definitely inherited her father's affinity for elaborate headgear. And then took it up to eleven. She has a whole collection of them◊.
- Cool Ship: Naglfar, made from the fingernails of the dead.
- Cool Sword: She is often armed with her 'Nightsword' which gives her the power to command an army of the dead. She also once wielded Surtur's fiery and immensely powerful 'Twilight Sword'.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: An amusing example when Hela fought the huge demon Asmodeus who was arrogant enough to massively underestimate her and mock her, calling her 'woman'. Hela responded by teleporting away and attacking from behind, overpowering him with ease.
- Another example in The Unworthy Thor #5 when Hela dispatches two high ranking members of Thanos' Black Order (Proxima Midnight and Black Swan) with apparent ease.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Subverted. As the Goddess of Death, per the way the Marvel cosmology works, she is one of the most important and powerful deities in her pantheon, which means she can kick her dad's ass. Loki is afraid of her, she doesn't tolerate his antics, nor does she even like him. She's also the size of a frost giant, unlike Loki.
- Dark Action Girl: Hela doesn't often rely on her physical prowess, but when she does she's a fierce opponent that is able to fight the Mighty Thor himself.
- Dating Catwoman: Thor's older brother Tyr, the Asgardian God of War is usually portrayed as a protagonist, or at least an Anti-Hero at his worst, but in Fear Itself he willingly becomes the commander of Hela's underworld forces and there is a clear attraction between the two that they try to deny. Later, in Angela: Queen of Hel, Tyr (along with Balder) leads the opposition against Angela (who is attempting to dethrone Hela), admitting that he does it out of love for the Death Goddess. Whether Hela returns his sentiments has yet to be seen.
- Death Is Cheap: Especially when you're a Death Goddess who can kill and resurrect individuals at will. Hela herself was killed by Odin at one stage, but he was forced to resurrect her when he saw the chaos caused in the Nine Realms without the life/death balance that her mere existence provides.
- Dimension Lord: Of Hel and Niffleheim.
- Dramatic Unmask: A variant of this trope was used during Unworthy Thor. From the first issue, the readers were teased with a mysterious hooded figure who helped Thanos escape from his earthly prison and worked with the Black Order to retrieve the Mjolnir of the Ultimate Universe. The mysterious figure is finally revealed to be Hela in the final issue when she dramatically throws back her hood and reveals herself to Thanos.
- The Dreaded: Let's face it, no one wants to meet Hela. Lampshaded by the lady herself:"Why then must men hate me and fear my approach? In truth I am gentle... In truth I am fair... To me, all are equal. I deny none my embrace."
- Even Hela herself is scared stiff of the Demogorge, who happens to be Thor's older half brother and an Elder God. If any deity meets him, it probably means its the end of the line for them, as he's basically true death for gods. For everybody's great luck the rules are such that he generally can only come after the forgotten.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Hela is traditionally drawn (sans mask and head covering) as having very pale skin, black hair and bright green eyes. As she is also usually depicted as being very beautiful, Raven Hair, Ivory Skin could also apply.
- Enemy Mine: Though Hela has often fought against other Death Gods or Demons in the Marvel Universe such as Pluto (Death God of the Greek Pantheon) and Mephisto (powerful demonic entity), often for control of the various death realms and the souls of superheroes such as Thor, in X-Men: Infernus she was forced to join many of them in a Villain Team-Up called the 'Hell Lords' who formed to discuss a disturbance created by the newly resurrected Magik when she was looking for the original Bloodstone amulet.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She's quite fond of Vali, one of her numerous half-siblings, and let him get out of her realm for free when he inadvertently wound up there, even giving him a teary hug before he went.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Hela has several times been impressed by acts of courage or love. For example, when Thor first lifted Mjölnir to save Sif, who through other circumstances had died, Thor was willing to trade his life for hers. Hela was so impressed by Thor's nobility that she restored Sif to life.
- Everybody Hates Hades: This is the case as the Norse goddess of the dead (well, the dead who didn't die in heroic battle, anyway). Often justified, however, as she has schemed to take control of Valhalla and Asgard more than once, and on at least one occasion was shown killing mortals indiscriminately. In both Norse myth and the comics, she is on the side of evil (or destruction, at least) during Ragnarok. Nonetheless, she serves a crucial and indispensable function managing the souls of the Asgardian dead, and it still doesn't justify the hatred she gets when she only tries to care for the souls under her charge.
- Femme Fatale: She once posed as one on Earth as part of a scheme. Well, she was trying to pose as an ordinary human woman, but given that's not something she has much experience with, this was the result◊.Jamie Madrox: Femmes don't get much more fatale than you, do they?
- Fisher King: She can physically alter her realm through her own will alone, including altering the landscape and transforming it into a place of darkness to stop beings from escaping. She also has this kind of effect on the Nine Realms themselves, her existence is essential to the life/death balance being maintained and when Odin once killed her, the effects on the Nine Realms was immediately devastating."Hel is a world bound to the mind of its mistress and queen, Hela, Ruler of the Dead. The realm shifts by her will. Its laws are ancient, and her whims can twist those laws until they scream... but not until they break. As Valhalla is a realm of honor, and Faerie a realm of temptation... Hel is the realm of trials. Sometimes, Hel is a pit. Sometimes, Hel is a palace. Now, Hel is a puzzle box. It's not a place of sheer suffering, you ought to know. For the wicked, it is punishment. For the righteous, it is reward. For everyone else, it's pretty chill. No Taco Tuesdays, and no Wi-Fi, but, you know. Still pretty chill..."—-Sera (Angela: Queen of Hel #1)
- Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Her implausibly skintight black and green catsuit.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Surprisingly averted with her own undead subjects. She may be a queen and she may be evil, but she appears to be somewhat of a benevolent ruler in her own realm. Played straight when she's outside of her realm though.
- Green and Mean: She almost always dresses predominantly in green.
- I Call It "Vera": Her "Nightsword".
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Her motivation for some of her schemes against Thor. She is stuck in the underworld and wants some companionship. According to Kieron Gillen's run on Journey into Mystery, this is because Hela was literally created, not born, from Loki. Kid Loki envisioned her as his perfect friend, and they grew mutually fond of each other. Then, after "Classic" Loki put himself back in charge, Kid Loki had Leah shipped into the distant past to grow into the powerful Hela and become able to stop his shenanigans. As such, she got deprived of her intended soulmate.
- Impossibly Cool Clothes: Hela's skintight green and black catsuit, Badass Cape and crazy headgear have become such an iconic look that it's strange to see her dressed at all differently, such as in the Journey Into Mystery books where she still had the headgear and cloak but swapped the catsuit out for a long green gown. She even kept the iconic look in her first live-action adaptation in Thor: Ragnarok.
- Interspecies Romance: Hela may or may not be an Asgardian depending on which origin story is used (one early one even states she is a long lost daughter of Odin himself) but in most continuities she is a Jotun, which means that her relationship with the Asgardian prince Tyr counts.
- Also Thanos, who is an Eternal from Titan.
- In Their Own Image: She once managed to get her hands on Surtur's fiery 'Twilight Sword' and then used its immense power to remake the Nine Realms 'in her own image'. Not surprisingly, Hela's version of the Nine Realms was a lot darker and more twisted place.
- Lady of Black Magic: An evil death goddess of vast mystical sorcery with a fondness for wearing tight catsuits and speaking Flowery Elizabethan English, and composed, elegant, and prideful. Unlike most she's also very capable in hand to hand and swordsmanship, doubling as a Dark Lady of War.
- Large and in Charge: Her mother is (probably) a giantess, and her father is one too, though a notedly runty specimen that's the size of a human. Being a giant is in her genes.
- Little Black Dress: She wears a sexy little black number◊ when she's hanging around in Las Vegas with the mortals in New Mutants #11.
- Magic Knight: Hela is both a powerful sorceress who has vast mystical abilities and a badass fighter and highly proficient swordswoman.
- Master of Illusion: Another one of her many powers. She once captured Thor and the Warriors Three in Hel but used a powerful illusion of an idyllic paradise to keep them there, when in reality they were leading the Einherjar to their deaths.
- Monochromatic Eyes: Depending on the Artist, sometimes Hela has normal (albeit eerily green) eyes, but more often that not she is drawn as having either totally white, green or red eyes.
- Most Common Super Power: She is usually drawn as being incredibly uh... well endowed up top.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's drawn with a skintight catsuit at her most discreet, and titles such as Siege and X-Factor give her a Navel-Deep Neckline that shows that she got bestowed with the Most Common Super Power.
- Multiple-Choice Past:
- During Kieron Gillen's run on Journey into Mystery, it appears as if neither Loki nor Hela knows for sure whether Loki truly is her father, even though in earlier issues of The Mighty Thor he was explicitly stated to be so. Later on during the same run we are given a new origin story for Hela, which is rather different from the one described above, though in a sense Loki still is her father.
- Thor (2020) gives her another origin that is incompatible with Gillen's. When Bor performed a ritual to gain power over death, the result was a black Infinity Stone that transformed into an infant and then a teenager. Time-travelling Thor and Laussa brought her to Loki, who raised her as his daughter. Oh, and Thanos and Doctor Doom were there too.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: In one Journey into Mystery storyline, Hela wore a long green gown that had a neckline cut all the way down to her navel.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: All Asgardians are extremely tough and durable, but Hela takes it up to eleven. She can withstand great impact forces, temperature and pressure extremes, high caliber bullets and powerful energy blasts without sustaining injury. Even if you do manage to injure her, she also has super-regenerative healing powers which means she doesn't stay down for long.
- Odd Friendship: Hela and Dani Moonstar have had a long standing Friendly Enemy relationship. She actually trusted Dani to safeguard her soul!, and Hela even gave Dani back her powers after the events of the House of M storyline, see the Super-Empowering example below.
- Physical Goddess: Not only that, but she's the most powerful Goddess in her pantheon.
- Power Floats: Hela can't fly but (like Loki) she can levitate and she seems to enjoy floating ominously above people, no doubt to appear even more intimidating than her height already allows.
- Reclining Reigner: Hela is depicted in this manner within an issue of X Factor. Sure, her natural form is half rotting corpse, but she knows how to pull off the eye candy◊.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: She is usually a Thor villain, but has also played an antagonist role to other Marvel heroes such as the New Mutants, The Avengers and Angela. As part of the Villain Team-Up, the 'Hell-Lords' (with other demonic villains including Mephisto, Dormammu, Blackheart and Satannish) she has also been a threat to the entire Marvel universe as a whole.
- Self-Duplication: Hela is able to create several less powerful versions of herself. Generally when she doesn't want to risk her whole being against a foe (like the Disir). Or when she's injured and it's easier to make the lost part of her into a copy of sorts than healing, like she did with her 'handmaiden' Leah.
- Sorcerous Overlord: The sorcerous queen of The Underworld.
- Soul Eating: After the events of Ragnarok, Hela went to earth and maintained a lair in a Las Vegas casino called the Inferno Club where she would prey on and consume the souls of the weak as sustenance.
- Spikes of Villainy: Her iconic headdress is enormous, elaborate and spiky.
- Stable Time Loop: Hela's whole new origin story is an example of this. The reincarnated Kid Loki meets Leah as Hela's handmaiden. He proceeds to write a character based on her into the past of the Serpent. Later, Hela's hand is healed, Leah (having been Hela's literal handmaiden) disappears, and Hela makes a cryptic comment to Loki about how everyone believes he is her father. When Surtur tries to burn the Nine Realms he recruits the girl Loki wrote into the Serpent's past, as she resents Loki for not giving her any chance to grow. Loki rewrites the girl's story so that she becomes the Leah that he knew. Then things happen in such a way that he ends up asking Hela to send the new Leah to a place as far away from him as possible. Hela sends Leah to the distant past, and reveals to the readers that she is Leah, all grown up.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's drawn as both very attractive and very tall, the latter at least for human standards.
- Super-Empowering: She has empowered various lesser beings, but the most notable example is when she granted powers to Dani Moonstar◊ who was depowered following the events of the House of M storyline in exchange for Moonstar acting as her personal Valkyrie whenever Hela needs use of her.
- Super-Strength: Hela is right up there with Thor in strength levels, she's actually so strong that she can fight him to a stalemate in direct combat. That puts her in the class 100 'potentially incalculable' strength scale and means that she's easily one of the physically strongest female characters in the whole of the Marvel Universe.
- Teleportation: One of her many powers, she can travel anywhere in the Nine Realms in an instant.
- Token Evil Teammate: Very briefly during her time working with the New Mutants during that book's crossover with Fear Itself, hoping to thwart the Serpent.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In the early days of Journey Into Mystery, Hela was often portrayed as a less overtly villainous character who was merely lonely being stuck in the Underworld with no real companionship. More recent portrayals however have turned her into more of a Card-Carrying Villain who will do anything to extend her rulership to Valhalla and Asgard, including trying to kick-start Ragnarok (the Norse apocalypse) itself.
- Touch of Death: As expected from a Death Goddess, she has this power. She can also fire deadly bolts of energy that can kill both Asgardians and humans alike, meaning she doesn't even have to actually touch you to kill you.
- Third-Person Person: She has a rather unusual and oddly endearing habit of talking about herself in the third person:"This is the gathering of the dead. If you liked it, there would be something wrong with you. Only Hela likes it. And it is not a matter of whether she likes it or not. It must be done, and done swiftly."
- The Undead: Hela's subjects, minions and army are all undead, often shown as being zombie like humanoid creatures in varying states of decay.
- The Underworld: Hela's realm of Hel (yes, that's one l) is not the Christian Hell, but the Asgardian underworld which houses the spirits of those that did not die in battle, but instead of illness and old age, e.t.c. The 'dishonored dead' (a.k.a. those who commited evil deeds in life) are sent to the realm of Niffleheim (which Hela also rules), a dead land of endless ice and mist.
- Unholy Matrimony: With Thanos as of The Unworthy Thor #5. Hela promises him everything he has ever wanted in exchange for his help in her taking back her kingdom. The two then share a passionate kiss.
- Quite literally with the sometimes enemy of Asgard, Karnilla the Norn Queen, who Hela wed in Thor Vol 5 #4, initially for political reasons. They seem to be quite happy to sit back and rule Hel together so far, but who knows what mischief and chaos they could concoct together in the future...
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Thor's older brother Tyr during Fear Itself and Angela: Queen of Hel. Tyr is clearly in love with Hela and she seemed to share the sentiment at the time, but she has moved onto Thanos since then... Poor Tyr still seems to be hung up on Hela as of Thor Vol 5 #4 as he can be seen looking decidedly miserable at her wedding to Balder (and then Karnilla) in the issue.
- Vapor Wear: In X-Factor Vol 1 212 published in 2010, she wears a dress that makes it clear she is not wearing any underwear◊.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: She has had a love/hate (occasionally stalkery) relationship with Thor ever since they first met. It mostly manifests through her gloating that his soul will be hers sooner or later, no matter how he tries to avoid it. In the very last issue of Thor Volume 1, she offers Thor the chance to rule as her Prince-consort and mate, knowing that he would die during the battle with Onslaught.
- Your Size May Vary: She isn't giant-sized in Marvel: Avengers Alliance or in any of her recent comics or video game incarnations for that matter. It could be explained away by the fact that she has many magical powers and could appear as being whatever size she chooses at the time.
- Your Soul Is Mine!:
- She has long lusted after Thor's soul and will go to the lengths of threatening all out war upon others (such as Mephisto) who try to claim it for themselves.
- In an early Thor storyline she stole a portion of Odin's soul while he was trapped on the 'Sea of Eternal Night' (thanks to Loki) and used to create an extremely powerful entity capable of defeating the Allfather that she named 'Infinity'.
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Leah of Hel
Leah of Hel
First Appearance Journey into Mystery (vol. 1) #624
To understand Leah we should first clarify that there were several of her (by end of 2015 at least four), and most if not all constructs of either Loki or Hela.
The first appearing one was Hela's handmaiden, who had a psychic connection with her mistress. Hela charged her with keeping an eye on Loki to ensure he repaid his debts to Hel during Journey into Mystery. It turned out that she was actually the manifestation of Hela's severed hand, making her a literal handmaiden. She was finally reabsorbed into Hela.
The second one (also known as Herald!Leah) was accidentally created by Kid Loki when he forged Culs biography using the first Leah's blood (so her personality and experiences serve as the basis for this one)... but she was not happy with Loki's authorial powers and sided with Surtur in the Everything Burns crossover. Loki out of guilt and hope for gaining back his friend travelled to the past and amended the text to grant her the freedom to change, grow, and become her own person. She was last seen when Kid Loki sent her into the past in an attempt to protect her from his former self. It's implied that she eventually grew up to be Hela. She may or may not appeared in the Young Avengers when the team was dimension hopping.
The third Leah was the therapist Teddy went to with his relationship problems in Young Avengers who turned out to be working with the series' main villain the interdimensional parasite known as Mother. She was the physical manifestation of Loki's conscience (yes, he has one) and when he came clean of his sins she disappeared.
The fourth Leah we meet when Angela and Sera meet her the in worst part of Hel (and later save her from there) in Angela: Queen of Hel. She is a version of the first one by way of the Siege tie-in of Secret Wars (2015) who somehow found her way to the new main Marvel Universe.
- Adaptational Sexuality: The fourth one is a lesbian, who in her original story was in a relationship with a (version of) Magik.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Her explanation for liking Daimon Hellstrom. And despite her denials, she also has feelings for the mischievous Kid Loki.
- Born as an Adult: Well, generally born as a teen or young adult. Comes from being a construct.
- Break Her Heart to Save Her: Kid Loki has Hela send the second Leah back in time away from her, prompting Leah to declare that she hates him. Ikol in Kid Loki's body explains to the Young Avengers that the reason he did so was to save her from him.
- Cessation of Existence: Implied about the first. When she is reabsorbed by Hela and turns back into her hand, there is nothing to imply that Leah as an individual continues existing as a soul or in any other sense. However, her memories live on in the second Leah, who was created based on the first. Happened to the third too but that was part of the plan.
- Creating Life Is Unforeseen: The second was created by and accident (or at least Loki not thinking it through).
- Cute Witch: Adorable as a child.
- The Dreaded: A highly specific version, but Loki is terrified at seeing her again in Young Avengers.
- Enemy Without: The third is Loki's runaway conscience conspiring against him.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: Often teased about having feelings for Kid Loki, but she furiously denies it.
- Heel–Face Turn: The second Leah was an agent of Surtur, but defects when she saw Kid Loki's willingness to sacrifice Asgardia so she could be happy, and was genuinely touched.
- Interspecies Romance: For the fourth one, her girlfriend was a mutant and she's a Jotunn.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's basically a kid version of the Defrosting Ice Queen. While she's often aloof and standoffish, she still cares for Kid Loki's well-being.
- The Lancer: To Kid Loki in Journey into Mystery.
- Little Miss Badass: She's proficient in magic and super strong, being able to toss a grown man like a ragdoll.
- Little Miss Snarker: In spades! Practically every scene that she shares with Kid Loki is filled with snark.
- The Lost Lenore: The first one was one to Kid Loki.
- The One That Got Away: A twofer for Kid Loki. The first Leah was erased from existence after Hela had healed her hand, while the second Leah was cast away in order to protect her from the original Loki's machinations.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She has the appearance of a kid younger than thirteen, yet she's sufficiently strong enough to effortlessly hurl a grown man out of a window.
- Psychic Link: She receives psychic messages allowing her to provide updates on the situation in Hel, and Hela can speak through her in a pretty horrifying manner.
- She Is All Grown Up: The third and fourth versions show that they definitely grow up to be quite the lookers. And if the second one really is indeed Hela, she counts as well.
- Ship Tease: With Kid Loki. Unfortunately, fate and the original Loki had other plans.
- Significant Anagram: Rearrange the letters of her name and you get "Hela".
- The Sleepless: She doesn't sleep.
- Stable Time Loop: The existence of the first two Leahs are a result of this. The first Leah was created from Hela's hand as her handmaiden. The second Leah was created by Kid Loki, based on the first. Then, it turns out that the second Leah is heavily implied to be a young Hela sent to the past, meaning that she would eventually grow up to create the first Leah.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Considers milkshakes "satisfactory".
- Tsundere: Of the type A variety towards Kid Loki.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Kid Loki, who once figured out when someone was impersonating her due to the fake Leah being too nice.
- Yandere: The third one's general behaviour mostly towards Loki.
- You Cannot Fight Fate: The 2nd appears briefly in one issue of Young Avengers (maybe) trapped in a volcanic wasteland with nothing to do, and refuses the offer of leaving, since she has "an eternity to be getting on with".
Laufey
Laufey
First Appearance Journey into Mystery (vol. 1) #112
Laufey is the former chieftain of the Frost Giants and the father of Loki. He was killed in battle by Odin when Loki was an infant. But we all know how death is in comicbooks.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the original Norse mythos, Laufey wasn’t really portrayed as villainous per say, since we didn’t really know much about Laufey apart from being related to Loki. Here, Laufey is a villain.
- Adaptational Badass: In the original Norse mythos, Laufey wasn’t really depicted as being that powerful. In fact, we didn’t really know much about Laufey at all apart from being related to Loki, and the fact that she was also called "Nál", which means "needle", suggests she wasn't particularly burly, at least. Here, Laufey is not only often described as being the most powerful of the Frost Giants, but also their leader.
- Adaptational Name Change: In the original mythos, Loki’s father is named “Fárbauti”. Here, he is named “Laufey”, who was the name of Fárbauti’s spouse in the original mythos. In other words, the writers basically gave Loki’s father the name of his mother.
- Art Evolution: Along with most of the Frost Giants. Was originally depicted by Jack Kirby as large, but essentially human, with vaguely Asian features and traditional-looking armor. He was later depicted as gray-skinned and orcish, with primitive clothing and a necklace of fangs and teeth. Possibly Justified by Ragnarok.
- Back from the Dead: Thanks to Malekith he finally returned to life in Thor (2014).
- Brains Evil, Brawn Good: Played straight and inverted. He believes in the superiority of brawn but as a leader of an Always Chaotic Evil race that means he thinks that true evil can only be achieved through raw strength, destruction, and murder; while holding mischief and trickery in sneering contempt.
- Daddy Didn't Raise No Criminal: In case of Loki, well, technically he did, just preferred murderer to conman. That kid is so full of disappointments. How could he go this wrong? Behind Loki's back he is not above claiming "I Have No Son!" either.
- After Loki stabs and poisons Freyja nigh unto death, he seems to warm up to him. Since it is heavily implied that Loki was very careful not to kill her in the process, thereby inveigling himself deeper into the Dark Council, gaining their trust - such as it is this is unwise.
- Gender Flip: In the original myths, Laufey is the name of Loki's mother, not his father. In fact, Laufey is still a somewhat common exclusively feminine name in a few parts of Scandinavia, which can make any reference to this character rather difficult to take seriously. note
- Gutted Like a Fish: At the end of War of the Realms, Loki (whom he had eaten) slices him open from the inside.
- Interspecies Romance: Avengers 1,000,000 BC revealed that during Earth's prehistory, he somehow met a being from the Negative Zone named Hyve and produced with her billions of giant destructive bugs that threatened to wipe out humanity. Thankfully, and predictably, the swarm was killed by that era's Avengers.
- Offing the Offspring: Laufey kills Loki in the first issue of War of the Realms by biting him in half and eating him in front of the gathered heroes... or at least he tries. It turns out Loki survived and handily inverts the trope.
- Skewed Priorities: You would think he is mad at Loki because of the whole "killing him" thing. But actually no, he is mad at him because then he didn't take the Klingon Promotion.
- Smarter Than You Look: Laufey is for all intents and purposes a brute, but also one of the very few characters ever to took one look at (the adult) Loki and go: "That guy is not to be trusted."
Skurge the Executioner
Skurge the Executioner
First Appearance Journey into Mystery (vol. 1) #103
Half Asgardian-Half Giant, Skurge was a long-time associate of Amora the Enchantress, even being a founding member of the Masters of Evil. However, when Amora one day abandoned him, feeling despondent, he offered to join Thor and some friends through Helheim on a rescue mission, and sacrifices himself to ensure their escape. Honoring his noble deed, eventually his soul finds refuge in Valhalla.
- Anti-Villain: Skurge himself is an honorable fellow who is genuinely in love with Amora, but will enforce the will of his lady which requires him to come with blows against the God of Thunder and the Avengers.
- Bald of Evil: He has no hair.
- Battle Butler / The Dragon: To Amora.
- The Brute: Among the Masters of Evil.
- Canon Foreigner: Created for the comics and not present in Norse myths.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: His last stand against the forces of Hela in Thor # 362. Though his after-death exploits eventually moved him from Hel to Valhalla."They sing no songs in Hel, nor do they celebrate heroes...
...For silent is that dismal realm and cheerless...
...But the story of the Gjallerbru and the god who defended it is whispered across the nine worlds...
...And when a new arrival asks about the one to whom even Hela bows her head...
...The answer is always the same...
He stood alone at Gjallerbru...
...And that answer is enough." - Elemental Powers: His Axe gave him some control over Fire and Ice.
- Heroic Sacrifice / Redemption Equals Death: After feeling toyed with by Amora for too long, he teamed up with the Einherjar, Balder, and Thor to rescue stolen souls from Hel that had been taken by Hela. After they had retrieved the human souls, the band was pursued by a huge army of the dead. When Thor volunteered to buy time for the other's escape, Skurge knocked him out from behind, and volunteered to hold the bridge of Gjallerbru in his stead. Skurge defended the bridge with a pair of M16's from Earth and unbreakable courage, and none of his opponents set foot on Gjallerbru. He stood alone and died at Gjallerbru, allowing not one of the almost numberless hoard to set foot upon the bridge for as long as he could fight. For this heroic last stand, Skurge found a place among the warriors residing in Valhalla, and to the surprise of many, Amora found herself torn with remorse upon hearing of his demise.
- Ignored Enamored Underling: To Amora. He eventually despairs of ever receiving a sign of her respect, let alone love, and volunteers for a Heroic Sacrifice; she's been paying so little attention to him that she doesn't find out he's dead for another four issues. When she did find out, she burst into tears and mourned him, much to everybody's surprise.
- Killed Off for Real: In fact, later stories established that if he's brought back, the entire universe will collapse.
- Lady and Knight: He is the Black Knight to Amora's Dark Lady.
- Love Makes You Evil: He fights the Avengers only to please his beloved Enchantress.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Executioner.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: He'll never attack anyone who isn't his target. This trait was Thor's clue that another Executioner he faced wasn't Skurge.
- Screw Destiny: When it was prophesied that he would lead Hela's armies of the dead against Asgard at Ragnarok, he hurled his axe at Naglfar, the warship of the dead, and blew it to smithereens, postponing Ragnarok until it can be repaired.
- Super-Strength: Skurge possessed superhuman strength greater than that of most other Asgardians.
Surtur
Surtur
First Appearance Journey into Mystery (vol. 1) #97
A fire giant and Lord of Muspelheim, the land of fire and master of a race of fire demons. Seeks to start Ragnarok and cleanse the universe of all life save for his kind.
- Abusive Parents: According to his daughter, Sindr's, backstory when his children turn three years old, they're forced to endure a test where they're starved for thirteen days. Afterwards, Surtur will present them two things: a pile of food and a fiery cauldron of screaming souls. If the child chooses the latter, they become Surtur's heir apparent.
- Arch-Enemy: To Odin and Beta Ray Bill.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: At his largest, Surtur can exceed more then 1,000 feet tall.
- BFS: Surtur possesses the giant sword Twilight, also known as the Sword of Doom, composed of an unknown metal. The sword is magic, capable of manipulating vast amounts of mystical energy, such as shattering dimensional barriers and inhibiting Odin's powers.
- Big Bad: Rivals Loki for the series overall spot. On a few occasions Loki has allied with Thor to stop Surtur. It's perfectly logical too as Surtur's goal tends to be destruction for destruction's sake which generally isn't good for Loki's conquest (or other conman) business.
- Big Red Devil: Like the rest of the Demons of Muspelheim
- The Chessmaster: Contrary to most giants, demons, and trolls, Surtur has shown himself to be quite cunning. He has carried out several well-planned attacks on Asgard and tends to have backup plans for his backup plans. Odin has been impressed with his ability to plan ahead in case of failure.
- Depending on the Writer: Some versions describe Surtur and the Sons of Muspel as Demons rather then Fire Giants. However, because they were Giants in the original myths, and because Surtur is very, very big, there is always some confusion.
- The Dreaded: He is the most feared enemy of Asgard. Even Odin is somewhat afraid of him.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: Loki and other villains will sometimes oppose him to save their own skins.
- Faux Affably Evil: Omnicidal tendencies aside, he can be fairly affable. This is best shown in the Ragnarok saga, when he was pretty affable and polite to Thor, agreeing to fix Mjolnir in exchange for Thor blasting a path to Asgard for him. Since Thor knew that Ragnarok had to play out anyway, right up to a certain point where he could change things, he was perfectly happy to comply.
- Flaming Sword: When his sword is bonded with the Eternal Flame, its powers are further increased to an unknown level.
- God of Fire: Surtur is a fire giant and the ruler of a race of fire demons.
- Humanoid Abomination: Oldest living thing in the Nine Worlds who seeks to destroy all life alien to his own.
- Immortality: Surtur is considered to be long-living entity.
- Logical Weakness: Surtur is vulnerable to intense coldness.
- Meaningful Name: Not Surtur ("The Black One" in Norse) himself, but his sword, Twilight: as in Twilight of the Gods.
- Omnicidal Maniac: He wants to kill everything that's not his kin, and is responsible for the death of the Burning Galaxy and the Korbinite race.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Destroyed a GALAXY as part of the process to reforge Twilight.
- Physical God: Enough that Thor and Odin have to bring out the big guns to take him on.
- Playing with Fire: Fitting for a fire giant. He can produce and control virtually unlimited amounts of fire in amounts greater than stars when at his peak.
- Satanic Archetype: Contrary to mythology, where he is a neutral force who merely fulfills a cosmic role, in the comics he actively tries to bring about Ragnarok instead of waiting. The whole devil look and feud with Odin are exclusive to the comics.
- Story-Breaker Power: Mentioned in The Dreaded that everyone in Asgard, even Odin, is afraid of him. Well, a big part of why is because he's damn powerful, having taken on Odin and actually BEATEN him on occasion.
- Super-Strength: Surtur is rated at 100 tons plus by Marvel, which is basically their code for 'this person blows the scale'. His strength is said to be equal to Odin.
- Time Abyss: Predates the giants and gods. No one, save perhaps himself and Those Who Sit Above In Shadow, know where he comes from.
- Your Size May Vary: Mentioned above, his size varies, sometimes he's only about 20 feet and others he's over 1000.
Sindr
First Appearance Mighty Thor (Vol. 3) #22
Daughter of Surtur & current ruler of Muspelheim, a fire giant like her parental figure who works with Maleketh's Dark Council to spread her purging flames across the ten Realms.
- Canon Foreigner: In Norse mythology, there are no mentions of Surtur's relatives.
- Daddy's Little Villain: She was the only one of a thousand siblings who chose the option of a cauldron full of flames and screaming souls instead of a mound of food offered by their father. So when her father was killed, she became the new queen of Muspelheim.
- Evil Is Burning Hot: Just like her father, she's burning hot.
- Fire/Ice Duo: The fire to Laufey's Ice at Malekith's Dark Council.
- Horned Humanoid: While her appearance varies, two massive horns that she shares with her father are always prominent.
- Logical Weakness: Like her father, she's vulnerable to cold temperatures, which is why she had Luna Snow imprisoned when she attacked Asia.
- Playing with Fire: As expected of the Queen of Cinders, she can control fire and embers like it's nobody's business.
- Red Baron: Queen of Cinders.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: While introduced as an enemy of Thor, during her attack on Asia during the War of the Realms, the Agents of Atlas opposed her and her army of fire demons.
Ymir
Ymir
First Appearance Journey into Mystery (vol. 1) #97
The first frost giant and source of all other frost giants if not all giants. According to myth in real world and the comics myth, Odin and his brothers slew him and made the Earth from his body. He periodically returns from the dead and is one of the few beings that can challenge Odin with a strong chance of winning.
- Badass in Distress: During War of the Realms, Laufey imprisons him and uses Ymir to produce primordial Ice Giants, until he's freed by Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Atlas, Goliath and Stinger after convincing Moonstone to break the spell that was holding him down.
- Deity of Human Origin: According to Thor in X-Men: First Class Vol. 1 #5, at least according to legend, Ymir was a human with powers of a similar nature to Iceman before he became the primordial god-beast that he is now. At the end of the story, Thor and the X-Men are being observed by a group of mortals called the Vanir who overhear Thor's warning that Iceman could become a new Ymir and they make plans to turn Bobby into a new Ice-Giant if Ymir is unable to be controlled or bargained with. In X-Men: First Class Vol. 2 #8, the X-Men and the Man-Thing travel to some alternate-universes and in one of them they come across Thor battling Iceman, now calling himself Ice-Giant, in a frozen tundra-world telling him that he had warned him that this could happen.
- An Ice Person: Can create snowstorms and blizzards with enough force to plunge the entire Earth into a new ice age aside from freezing the air around him.
- Immortality: A combination of Types I and III. Ymir doesn't age and it is very difficult to harm him. Should his body be shattered, he can usually reform within moments. It usually takes banishing him for very, very powerful magics to kill him.
- Monster Progenitor: Frost Giants are descendants of his children, the Ice Giants, who themselves are literally chips off his block.
Drrf
Drrf
First Appearance War of the Realms Omega (vol. 1) #1
A small frost giant who became Loki's right hand when he became king of Jotunheim.
- Nice Guy: Unlike other Frost Giants he’s gentle and kind, which is probably why Loki took a liking to him.
