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When the battle is lost,
And the slain ones are chosen,
The Valkyries will guide us home;
We'll heed the final call,
A call to arms,
The Valkyries will guide us home;
Then finally I hear them say,
"Carry on...
For Valhalla awaits you..."
Blind Guardian, Valkyries

This page is a trope description. For works with the same name, see Valkyrie.

The Valkyries are a group of figures from Norse Mythology, fierce women who served the Norse gods. They were sometimes depicted as Psychopomps, derived from their name which means Chooser of the Slain. What sets them apart is that their classical depiction has become so ingrained that it is copied, parodied, and even outright inverted.

Positive portrayals of valkyries depict them as noble women who carry souls of worthy warriors who died in battle to Valhalla, where they are destined to fight alongside Odin when Ragnarok happens. Other myths also connect them to Freyja and the afterlife field Fólkvangr, where half the battle-slain go. Although soul transportation and god-serving were their primary duties, some are also shown as warrior women, and some retellings portray them as an outright Amazon Brigade. Less sanitized versions portray valkyries as directly choosing who dies and ends up in Valhalla, and using dark magic to ensure their preferences come to pass. In this regard, they are sometimes seen as related to the Irish Morrigan.

A lot of their portrayal in pop culture is helped along by the epic theatrical drama The Ring of the Nibelung, where they are portrayed as large, armored womennote . Also from that work is the Standard Snippet "Ride of the Valkyries", which makes them sound like heralds of a glorious war. Because of their iconic nature, many things have been named after them, especially weapons of war. See Names To Run Away From: Religious Names for examples.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • In Ah! My Goddess, which takes much from Norse Mythology to begin with, Valkyries are essentially the Armed Forces of Heaven, with Lind as the most prominent, and the highest ranked, answering only to the Almighty. Belldandy, who really dislikes violence, was recently shown to be a licensed Valkyrie herself, when she held her own in a fight with a very strong denizen of hell.
  • Black Clover: Noelle gains the spell Valkyrie Armor, forming an armor with wing-like ornaments and spiraling lance from her Water Magic that bring to mind the iconic warrior women.
  • A Certain Magical Index eventually introduces a few Valkyries, women born with bodies similar to the Norse mythological beings and thus having similar abilities. Brunhild Eiktobel is notable for being born both a Valkyrie and a Saint (a person born with a body similar to the Son of God).
  • They are the main characters of The Circumstances Leading to Waltraute's Marriage. The main plot is Waltraute, the fourth of the nine Valkyries, getting married to a mortal.
  • In Durarara!!, Izaya has a theory that the legend of Dullahans from Celtic Mythology and the legend of Valkyries from Norse Mythology are based on the same thing, and one can somehow "trigger" Valkyrie Mode and Ragnarok. So, he's manipulating gangs into fighting each other because he wants to start a war, hopefully activating the hypothetical "valkyrie" mode of Celty's head and allowing himself in Valhalla (though he'd be just as willing to settle for Hel) — all of this to avoid the equally hypothetical Nothing After Death.
  • High School D×D has Norse Mythology included so having Valkyries being in this series was a given. One of them, Rossweiss, joins the Occult Research Club as the other Rook.
  • In the Macross franchise, fighter jets that can transform into robots, called Variable Fighters, are one of the main staples of the series. The very first mass-produced model, VF-1, was codenamed Valkyrie.
    • In Macross Delta, we have the "Walkure", a group of idol singers. They are capable of curing the Var Syndrome via singing, all the while riding on the aforementioned VFs. Made funnier by the fact that the VF model their Delta Squadron bodyguards use, the VF-31, is codenamed Siegfried.
  • Some show up in Maria the Virgin Witch to take some knights to Valhalla but the Archangel Michael chases them because the knights are supposed to go to Christian Heaven.
  • In Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Negi can summon valkyries (basically powerful air elementals) using various Evocatio spells.
  • The finale of Puella Magi Madoka Magica has Madoka's apotheosis essentially take up this duty for the entire multiverse, also creating Magical Girl Warrior Heaven in the process. To drive this point in, one of the Magical Girls she calls upon during this apotheosis is a blonde girl who's dressed up as a Viking, looking very similar to an archetypical Valkyrie.
  • Record of Ragnarok has a heavy focus on the Valkyries of Norse myth. The story portrays them as a group of 13 demigoddess sisters, with all but three of them named after the Valkyries of the Grímnismál (with the remaining three instead taking their names from the Völsunga saga, the poem Völundarkviða, and the poem Völuspá, respectively). Led by the oldest sister, Brunhilde, the sisters work to save humanity from the judgment of the gods via the Ragnarok tournament. Using a magical ritual, each Valkyrie can bind their soul to that of a human warrior's, turning them into a Volund, taking the form of whatever the warrior's weapon is. Each Valkyrie has their own special ability unique to them, with said ability transferring over into their Volund form. However, the ritual also makes it so that if the warrior dies, the Valkyrie will die as well.
    • Brunhilde is the oldest of the Valkyries, as well as the overall protagonist of the story. She serves as the Big Good, having proposed the Ragnarok tournament to the gods with the goal of giving humanity a fighting chance at survival. However, she is willing to go to any length to ensue humanity's victory, up to and including risking the life of her younger sisters.
    • Göll is the youngest of the Valkyries, and acts as the Deuteragonist of the story. As The Baby of the Bunch, she tends to act as the Audience Surrogate, being the one other characters will exposit information to. She's also quite cynical and a huge Nervous Wreck.
    • Randgriz is the fourth Valkyrie sister, as well as the first to act as a Volund. A calm and peaceful woman, she is a Proper Lady who always has a sweet smile on her face. She acts as Lü Bu's Volund, taking the form of a Chinese halberd called the Sky Piercer, with her special ability being the power to break any defense.
    • Reginleif is the seventh Valkyrie sister, as well as the second to act as a Volund. A serious young woman, she was apparently Göll's tutor in the past, with Göll describing her as having been a Stern Teacher. She acts as Adam's Volund, taking the form of a knuckle duster. Unlike the rest of her sisters, Reginleif's special ability is never revealed to the audience during the battle, and given the fact that she dies at the end of the battle, it's likely that it never will be.
    • Hrist is the second Valkyrie sister, as well as the third to act as a Volund. Hrist has a Split Personality, one known as her "Trembling in Fear" personality, who is quiet, calm, and kind, and the other known as her "Trembling in Anger" personality, who is wrathful, Hot-Blooded, and a Lady Swears-a-Lot. She acts as Sasaki Kojiro's Volund, taking the form of an ōdachi called the Monohoshizao, with her special ability allowing her to split into a pair of dashiō katanas.
    • Hlökk is the eleventh Valkyrie sister, as well as the fourth to act as a Volund. An Elegant Gothic Lolita, she's also something of a Bratty Half-Pint. She acts as Jack the Ripper's Volund, something she's understandably very reluctant about. As a Volund, Hlökk takes the form of a giant pair of scissors, though this is revealed to be a lie, and her actual Volund form is the bag on Jack's hip that can produce any weapon... except that is a lie as well, and Hlökk's actual Volund form is Jack's gloves, with her special ability allowing her to turn anything she touches into a divine weapon.
    • Þrúðr is the third Valkyrie sister, as well as the fifth to act as a Volund. The Big Girl among the Valkyries, she is extremely tall and muscular, but is also quite shy and insecure about her body due to fearing that people think of her as a freak. She acts as Raiden Tameemon's Volund, who she ends up falling in love with due to him finding her muscular appearance attractive. As a Volund, Þrúðr takes the form of a mawashi called the Mawashi of Flesh and Bone, with her special ability manifesting as a set of body tattoos that allow her to regulate Raiden's immense strength, allowing Raiden to go all out without having to worry about being crushed under the weight of his own muscles.
    • Alvitr is the tenth Valkyrie sister, as well as the sixth to act as a Volund. Like Hlökk, she is an Elegant Gothic Lolita, as well as something of a Tsundere. She acts as Qin Shi Huang's Volund, taking the form of a pair of shoulder plates known as the Almighty Spaulders, with her special ability allowing her to enhance Qin's martial arts skills while also maximizing his defense. Also, near the end of the round, Alvitr grants Qin all of her power, causing the right arm of the Almighty Spaulders to transform into a sword known as the Shi Huang Goujian Sword, allowing Qin to use his sword skills to their full extent.
    • Gondul is the ninth Valkyrie sister, as well as the seventh to act as a Volund. She has a Sugar-and-Ice Personality, usually being cold and distant, but becomes kind and approachable to anyone capable of impressing her. She serves as Nikola Tesla's Volund, taking the form of a mechanical armor called the Super Automaton β, with her special ability granting him access to various scientific powers such as electrokinesis, levitation, and teleportation.
    • Geirölul is the fifth Valkyrie sister, as well as the eighth to act as a Volund. She is extremely prideful, a trait of hers that makes her extremely easy to anger. She acts as King Leonidas' Volund, taking the form of a shield called the Aspis Shield, with her special ability allowing the shield to morph into various long-ranged forms that allow Leonidas to fight from a distance.
  • Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid has the titular "Valkyrie Drive", which occurs when a Liberator and Extar reach 100% synch rate: Mamori and Mirei, the only ones to ever reach such a state, obtain an angelic, armored...okay, sort of armored form that definitely brings the warrior women of myth to mind.
  • Vinland Saga fitting for a story about Vikings, Thorkell talks about how the Jomsvikings all dream of dying on the battle field and being picked up by Odin's maidens.
  • In the KC Grand Prix arc of the original Yu-Gi-Oh!, the monsters in Zigfried's deck are Valkyries, his most powerful one named after Brunnhilde herself. (Other cards in his deck are a Shout-Out to The Ring of the Nibelung, such as the Trap Cards "Wotan's Judgment" and "Loge's Flame" and the Spell Card "Ride of the Valkyries", which causes Walkuren Ritt to play over the field when it's used.)

    Card Games 
  • Magic: The Gathering: Valkyries appear occasionally under the angel creature type, typically charged with escorting great warriors to the afterlife.
    • Adarkar Valkyrie was the earliest valkyrie published, depicting an angel active during the Ice Age of Dominaria who, instead of bringing slain warriors to the afterlife, returns them to life to fight and die again.
    • In Kaldheim, a plane based on Norse Mythology, the valkyries bring the worthy dead to their feasting hall at the top of the World Tree, and travel in pairs of one White-aligned Shepherd, to raise up the souls of heroes, and one Black-aligned Reaper, to deliver lethal judgement to cowards and send them to the land of the unworthy dead ahead of time. They stand aloof from the rise and fall of pantheons of squabbling gods, whom they long predate, and rarely involve themselves in divine or mortal conflicts unless they threaten the whole plane; they hate demons, however, and always hunt them down when they escape Immersturm.

    Comic Books 
  • Gudra the Valkyrie, who appeared in the origin story of the Justice Society of America and later became a member of Axis Amerika in the All-Star Squadron sequel series The Young All-Stars.
  • Lady Death's half-sisters Vandala and Vulnavia are valkyries, originally of mortal origin before being elevated to Odin's warrior maidens.
  • Two alternate versions of Wonder Woman from The Multiversity are valkyries:
  • Danielle Moonstar from the New Mutants is also a valkyrie (a Native American Mutant Valkyrie), following the kids' first adventure in Asgard where she—most likely due to her animal telepathy—bonded with one of their winged horses.
  • The Marvel Comics superheroine Valkyrie was in fact an actual valkyrie, Brunnhilde, after being forced to possess a human woman by The Mighty Thor's foe The Enchantress. She later regained her own physical body. Jane Foster would later take on the identity following her time as Thor.
  • Valhalla: The valkyries are the servants of the gods and choosers of the slain, revealed to be the souls of mortal women who have been given the task of ferrying the dead to Valhalla. They occupy a rung on the hierarchy above the einherjar (who are forbidden to touch or interact with them after they arrive in Valhalla) but below the gods and mostly serve as background characters, though some of them get A Day in the Limelight in "Odin's Wager" and "The Ballad of Balder".

    Fanfic 
  • Child of the Storm:
    • The original Valkyries were an elite Asgardian regiment, before most of them were killed, and the 13 survivors were converted by Malekith into the Disir, undead cannibalistic monsters that ripped through an Asgardian army and took Bor himself to banish.
    • After, the regiment was left disbanded, until they were resurrected as a kind of bodyguard/ladies-in-waiting for Hela when it became apparent that her Walking Wasteland nature meant she couldn't remain in the mortal realms. They helped clear out most of the monsters in Niflheim (now Helheim), and destroy any twisted souls or creatures from the Outside that try to use it as a way to escape into the living realms. One notable member is Torunn, Thor's illegitimate daughter (who he didn't know about until after her death, as she inherited his strength, but not his lifespan) and Harry's much, much older half-sister. Since she was a monster-hunter in life, she's indicated to be quite enjoying it.
  • A Game of Cat and Cat: "Another Chapter of Just Talking": A Valkyrie soul talks about her thoughts on being captured by Soma:
    I came to pick up some warrior souls, and the castle's magic trapped me. You're pretty much my ticket back to Valhalla. If you die as Soma Cruz, I can go back to Valhalla. If you go back to being Dracula, that's just back to square one.
  • Megami no Hanabira: Valkyrie is Kaede's first demon, and she carries herself as pompously as one would imagine...until the other girls kick her Ass-gard as part of the contracting ritual, at which point Valkyrie whines that she's going to tell on them to Odin.
  • In Discworld fic The Price of Flight, two Air Watch members who are killed in the fighting in The Chalk note  are offered post-mortem careers by War, who points out he has job vacancies. Sigrid and Tatiana become Valkyries. Where their professional roles overlap those of the Air Watch and Pegasus Service, they greet each other as old friends and exchange news. Read more in the works of A.A. Pessimal.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • One of the most memorable scenes of Conan the Barbarian (1982) involves Valeria appearing much like a Valkyrie in order to help Conan against Rexor, just several scenes after she was killed by Thulsa Doom.
    Valeria: Do you want to live forever?
  • Thor: Ragnarok: Scrapper 142 was once a member of a group of female warriors known as the Valkyries. As the last surviving member of the outfit, Valkyrie is her Appropriated Appellation.
  • Discussed in Valkyrie. The real-life plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler is disguised as a mobilization order named "Valkyrie" to take over the German government after Hitler's death, which he himself has to sign off on. Stauffenberg presents the plan in person, and Hitler glances cursorily at the pages without a proper reading. He refers to Wagner and speaks of the Valkyries' nature, and signs off on the plan simply because the name pleased him.

    Literature 
  • Sangrida Odinsdottir in the Cal Leandros books is apparently a Valkyrie.
  • They show up several times in Discworld, even though Death does most of the Psychopomping on the Disc.
    • A Valkyrie comes to escort Mr. Saveloy to the afterlife in Interesting Times.
    • Several show up to collect The Silver Horde at the end of The Last Hero. The old men respond by mugging them and stealing their horses.
    • When Sybil sings dwarf opera to make a point, Vimes thinks that all she needs is the armor to be a perfect Valkyrie.
    • The Incarnation of War is married to one, first shown in Thief of Time.
    • Susan meets several when reaping a field of dead warriors in Soul Music. They like to sing the Wagner tune as well. One tries to recruit Susan, saying they could use a soprano.
  • In The Dresden Files, Marcone's security advisor, Ms. Gard, is a Valkyrie who he hired from Monoc Securites, the modern day incarnation of the Tree of Life and presided over by Odin himself. At one point, she comments that Dresden was fated to die without her intervention, and she has a habit of showing up in the nick of time, including once in a heavily armed helicopter while blasting "Ride of the Valkyries" on the loudspeaker. Let it never be said that a Chooser of the Slain doesn't know how to make an entrance.
    • It is worth noting that in the series thus far, Gard does not appear to choose who dies, but rather seems to be fully aware of when a warrior is about to die. That doesn't mean said death is set in stone; both of the individuals who would have been fated to die were saved because another person chose to intervene.
  • The walcyrya of Elizabeth Bear's Edda of Burdens trilogy subvert the trope by having both male and female members. And of course, this being an Elizabeth Bear production there is a healthy dose of same sex relationships.
  • The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious features a Valkyrie as the Goddess of Destruction.
  • Played for laughs in The Haunting of Granite Falls by Eva Ibbotson - the Valkyrie that turns up to fetch a dead warrior is very fat, therefore has to ride a horse with eight legs, (maybe she borrowed it?) and among the pleasures she promises to the fallen warrior is that she'll remove his earwax for him. He comments that some people would consider that unhealthy. It also turns out that she was a bit overenthusiastic about getting a warrior for herself - the person whose death had caused her to appear wasn't actually dead.
  • In the Immortals After Dark series there are several immortal Valkyries, and their powers include super high pitched screams, inhuman strength and a fondness for alcohol.
  • Valkyries show up in the Iron Druid Chronicles.
  • Valkyries in Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard serve Odin, escorting worthy souls who died bravely in battle to Hotel Valhalla to become Einherjar. In addition to possessing the standard powerset of an Einherjar, Valkyries also have the ability to fly and conjure powerful spears of light. Magnus's friend, Samirah al-Abbas, is a member of their ranks.
  • Sig Norresdottir in the Pax Arcana series is one. She has inhuman strength, speed, resilience, and a grab bag of tricks for speaking to ghosts and guiding them to move on.
  • The Gods Are Bastards have a variant version: Invisible and immaterial beings related to dryads and kitsune, they serve the god of death.
  • The Disir from The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. They appear in the second book as hired guns.
  • The warriors in Valhalla call themselves Valkyries regardless of gender. The novel contains numerous references to the mythological Valkyries, and the main characters at one point resemble their physical description.

    Live-Action TV 
  • The Charmed episode "Valhalley of the Dolls" featured Valkyries. They inhabit Valhalla and save the souls of dying innocents who are warriors of some kind - and have them train to face the final battle.
  • Kamen Rider Wizard features a Phantom based on a Valkyrie. Strangely enough, in a rare example of this trope, this Valkyrie is male.
  • In LostGirl Tamsin is a Valkyrie who demonstrates the life-cycles of a Valkyrie while also playing double agent and good cop/bad cop with her Werewolf buddy Tyson.
  • In the first scene of Vikings, Ragnar has a vision of Valkyries, first appearing as ravens, taking the dead from the recent battle to Valhalla.
  • Xena: Warrior Princess spends several episodes playing with Norse mythology, the Rheingold, and the Beowulf story. Brunhilde is a featured guest character.

    Mythology & Religion 
  • The Ur-Example is of course the Norse Mythology reference. Oftentimes depicted with wings, or riding winged horses, or sometimes ravens. The kenning (poetic title) used to describe their steeds was mistranslated, as they may have instead ridden wolves. Their role was to choose those who died a worthy death in battle and take them to Valhalla, making them Einherjar (“lone fighters”) who battle in the afterlife, are slain again, but rise every night to feast in the great hall. These warriors prepare for the final battle, Ragnarök. It's worth noting that they originated from bloodthirsty, murderous war spirits, as opposed to the more dignified look they have nowadays. Some sources describe them as far more than just beautiful psychopomps for the heroic dead. They helped make your heroes dead. A random arrow deflected in flight hits a chink in your armor. A broken lace on your boot makes you stumble and gives your enemy the opening to strike you down. Etcetera. All the work of the Valkyries, invisibly flitting here and there on the battlefield to screw over the finest of warriors so that Odin would have the best of the best on his side come Ragnarök. It was how the Norse answered the question "why do the good die young while jerk-asses live forever?" (though they also granted victory to those Odin favored, for example Sigrdrífa's orders). It was also why the original steeds of the Valkyries weren't beautiful winged horses, they were dark and hoary wolves.

    Pinball 

    Professional Wrestling 
  • Irish wrestler Valkyrie Cain, who's spent a lot of time in tag teams in nearly every promotion she's been in.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Dungeons & Dragons:
    • The Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia has valkyries as servants of the Norse deities. Their 3rd Edition stats render them nothing more than all-female, 20th-level paladins with quasi-deity status.
    • The Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords reworks valkyries to make use of that book's new system of martial maneuvers and stances. These valkyries are born from the blood shed by deities on the battlefields of Ysgard, and are Blood Knights who roam the planes in search of Worthy Opponents. While they're known to descend upon battlefields to carry off great warriors, these valkyries aren't acting as "choosers of the slain," instead they've become intrigued by a warrior's skill, and have taken one somewhere so they can rest, heal up, and then offer the valkyrie a good fight. These valkyries are still all-female, but are depicted with dusky wings, hoofed feat, and horned brows to distance them from angels — they're Chaotic Neutral beings, not true celestials.
  • Pathfinder:
    • Valkyries are Chaotic Neutral outsiders formed from the souls of valiant warriors, and resemble human, dwarven, or elven women clad in gleaming armor; they usually ride flying steeds such as sleipnirs, dragon horses, or pegasi. They scour battlefields to look for valiant heroes about to die; when they find them, they either help them survive to fight again or claim their souls to turn into einherjar, who often form retinues that accompany valkyries around.
    • Dahzagans, also known as "orc valkyries", are Chaotic Evil outsiders who serve the orcish pantheon, and bring the souls of great orcish heroes to the halls of their gods.
  • Exalted: Walkuren are a darker take on this concept. They're undead beings who rise from battlefields, and resemble monstrous syntheses of warrior and carrion bird, clad in armor like that worn by the soldiers who died where they arose. Some resemble harpy-like, winged warriors, while others are gaunt figures who ride black-feathered hippogriffs. They're predators of the dead, snatching ghosts away into the sky to carry off to their lairs to devour. They will consume any ghost in a pinch, but their favorite prey are the shades of great warriors — and if ghosts are scarce, they have few compunctions about slaying living warriors to make fresh shades.
  • In Nomine: Valkyries are a type of ethereal spirits in the service of Odin. They resemble tall, fair, athletic women, usually in the tunics, chain mail and helms of Viking warriors, and attune themselves to mortal worshippers of their god so that they can carry them to Valhalla when they die. They used to favor people who died in some notable manner, but since the decline of the ethereal powers Odin can neither afford to be choosy nor to spend what followers he has left. As such, Valkyries will also manifest to help mortals out of tight spots.
  • Scion: Valkyries are mentioned as one of the servitor races of the Aesir pantheon, and a Creature birthright available to Scions of the Aesir is "Valkyrie Steed". For reasons mentioned under Mythology, they're flying wolves. It's also possible to take a Valkyrie as a guide, and several are detailed. One is the wife of a powerful businessman, and lets him think she's a trophy while she covertly steers his business. Another is a United States Marine, and has "gone native" — she makes fallen U.S. soldiers into einherjar but refuses to do so with Iraqi insurgents, which has not gone unnoticed by the Aesir. And a third is Brynhilde from the Ring Cycle, who didn't die as mythology claims and is haunted by the knowledge that she will someday be the guide to yet another Scion who finds the Nibelung Ring and will love him despite herself.
  • Toon: In one scenario that was set around a High School AU parody of the In Nomine setting, the Valhalla Valkyries are the violent all-female opponents in Heavenly Heights High School's first touch football game.
  • Warhammer 40,000':
    • This is how Space Wolves are recruited — their Rune Priests often wander amongst the primitive human tribes of Fenris, observing young warriors in battle. Those that perform well but are mortally-wounded are rescued on the brink of death and ferried away to the Space Wolves' fortress-monastery, where they are healed and subjected to the crucible that is a Space Marine's initiation process. The Rune Priests even get psyber-linked raven familiars to act as their eyes, specifically called "Choosers of the Slain."
    • The Imperial Guard makes use of Valkyrie transports. They also get the trope used on them after noticing that anything with a Tau markerlight on it gets hit with a missile soon after, they've taken to calling it the mark of the Valkyrie.
  • Warhammer Fantasy: Khorne the Chaos God of war, battle, berserker rage, bloodthirst, and hate has his own Valkyries who are basically Daemon Princesses who are dedicated to him. Foremost amongst these is the perplexingly named Valkia the Bloody. Who is said to choose the devout of Khorne who fall honourably in battle to fight on in their god's mighty daemonic legions in the hellscapes of the Realm of Chaos. It's also worth noting that Valkia and the majority of Khorne's followers tend to rise up from the brutal Norscan tribes; who are a race of Chaos worshiping Horny Vikings who are also the most fearsome and devout servants of the Chaos Gods, Valkia is also known by many names which include 'the Shield-Maiden of Khorne', and she bears to battle the daemon-possessed Chaos spear known as "Slaupnir", an artifact and gift from her aforementioned war god. Just in care you weren't convinced that she is a crazy Viking.
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse features the Valkyria of Freya, an all-female group within the fierce, bloodthirsty Nordic werewolf tribe called the Get of Fenris. The Get worship Fenris (who is hardly villainous) and generally dislike Odin and the Aesir, which is probably why the werewolf Valkyria are "of Freya" (a Vana) instead (Freya, like Odin, also took her pick of those slain in battle).
  • Werewolf: The Forsaken also has the Valkyrja Mot, a Lodge of female werewolves who attend battles and send the spirits of those who suitably impress them to Valhalla.

    Theatre 
  • Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna features a trio of Valkyries flying on aerial straps in the penultimate act.
  • Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung was composed of four operas, one of which was called Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), which contains the famous snippet "Ride of the Valkyries". He mostly uses the straight version from myth, except here is where the (likely incorrect) winged horse depiction was ingrained and where the stereotypical depiction of the fat, horn-helmeted operatic soprano was born, though the Valkyries did not ride winged horses in any of the Bayreuth productions of the Ring and wore winged, not horned, helmets.

    Video Games 
  • In 1917 - The Alien Invasion DX, your character (a German scientist-turned-pilot) can summon actual Valkyries to help you fight off alien invaders. They're depicted as gigantic women with massive wings, carries swords, and damages every onscreen enemy by swopping past.
  • Age of Mythology has them as the myth unit for Freyja's worshippers: they are cavalry that can heal your army as well as fight. The in-game encyclopedia also lists all the original Valkyries. During the campaign you also get to play as a specific valkyre; Reginlief. She shares a normal Valkyre's ability to heal, but attacks by throwing spears as opposed to being cavlary. Both the generic Valkyries and Reginlief can be upgraded by researching the Aurora Borealis upgrade.
  • The 8-bit computer game Archon features a pair of valkyries on the Light side of the chess board.
  • Mycale from Akatsuki Blitzkampf can momentarily summon a valkyrie as her "reflector". In the sequel En-Eins Perfektewelt, the new character and local Lady of War Templeritter can be described as a mix of a Nazi (sorta) and a Valkyrie.
  • Black Desert Online features the Valkyrie class, the Distaff Counterpart of the Warrior class. Where the warrior is more of a raw physical fighter, the Valkyrie is a shield maiden trained to use divine magic in battle, similar to a paladin.
  • Tsubaki Yayoi from BlazBlue has a very Valkyrie-esque design, from the winged helmet, armor, and sword and shield fighting style.
  • Ultra-violent arcade-esque FPS Bloodhound contains zombified Valkyries as a recurring enemy, depicted as winged women in Nordic armor who swoops around trying to attack you. There's even a Valkyrie Demon who's a boss version of the regular undead Valkyries.
  • Brawlhalla has Brynn, a Half-Human Hybrid born from a Valkyrie and a human. Her human side makes her more reckless than the average Valkyrie and as such not only does she bring some rather unusual fighters to Valhalla, but she also decided to participate in the tournament. Her profile calls her the "Chooser of the slain and slayer of the chosen".
  • Valkyries appear in Castlevania games. There is also a recolor, called Erinys.
  • Being partly influenced by Norse mythology, the Dept. Heaven series of games loves this trope. It's never quite played straight, though, probably due to the gods' absence.
  • The Amazon in Diablo II can summon a Valkyrie. In Amazonian mythology (unlike the Norse one), Valkyries are spirits of the greatest heroes from the Amazonian people. It is claimed that the Amazon who could summon Valkyries has a chance of becoming one herself after her death.
  • Dislyte: Brynn is an esper, humans channeling the powers of divine beings, hosting the power of a Valkyrie. Her design and skills all evoke classic depictions of Valkyries; she has a pair of angel wings (a common artistic choice when depicting Valkyries), fights with a battle axe (a weapon associated with Vikings and Norse warriors), has ice powers (referencing the Norse climate), and constantly buffs her whole team (evoking a Valkyrie's preparing warriors for the battle of Ragnarök).
  • Dominions - Helheim has these as sacred flying units with lightning spears and Helheim's trademark ability of creating illusory copies of themselves. They trade the "guiding souls of dead warriors" part for "making said warriors dead in the first place", though.
  • In The Elder Scrolls series' mythology, Kyne, the old Nordic aspect of Kynareth, the Aedric Divine Goddess of the Air and Heavens, serves as one. She greets the souls of dead warriors and guides them to Sovngarde.
  • In Elden Ring, the demigod Malenia is sometimes likened to a valkyrie, as one of the two contenders to being the Worlds Greatest Warrior and symbolically associated with wings. The elite Cleanrot Knights who fought beside her are also termed valkyries in one item description, as is her daughter/sister/clone Millicent.
  • Fate/Grand Order featured the Valkyrie Brynhild as an extremely rare Lancer-class Servant (she debuted as the Lancer of Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Blue and Silver light novel, but people get exposed to her more via FGO), as an extremely melancholic and tragic figure who is doomed to kill anyone she loved or resembled her husband Sigurd (who later debuts in the game as a Saber-class Servant). For that, she urges her Master to not be kind to her at all. Later in the game, more Valkyries, namely Brynhild's little sisters, Ortlinde, Hildr and Thrud, appear as a single Servant Valkyrie, all of them very adoring to their big sister and especially hating Sigurd for giving her grief.
  • Fear & Hunger: Termina: Karin's Moonscorched form is outright named "Valkyrie", and appears as a grotesque hybrid of a valkyrie carrying Bellend soldiers, complete with armor, with the wings and talons of a Vile Vulture.
  • Lightning seems to have become something akin to one of these in Final Fantasy XIII-2, serving the goddess Etro.
  • For Honor portrays the Valkyries as an order of female Warborn (Viking) warriors who made a deal with the gods to earn glory for people who would otherwise not enter Valhalla, with each Valkyrie getting to choose who in particular receives their earned glory.
  • One of the playable characters in Gauntlet is known as the "Valkyrie". She's usually the Jack of All Stats of the group, having average attack, agility and magic (but above-average defense).
  • In Gems of War, Valkyries are one of the troops connected with Stormheim, in keeping with its Norse theme — although these ones are depicted with actual wings, which they didn't traditionally have.
  • In God of War (PS4), the Valkyries appear as exceptionally tough Optional Bosses, having been cursed with mortal bodies by a paranoid Odin — which had the side effect of royally messing up the Afterlife, since they can't guide valorous souls to Valhalla anymore. If Kratos "kills" their mortal shells, they can return to their original form and are understandably quite grateful. Given that Freya was their original Queen and leader, they may have originally been Vanir goddesses as well.
    • In the sequel, other Valkyries still loyal to Odin are seen in Asgard and other realms. Two must be fought in order to clear the way for Surtr to transform into Ragnarok, while a third (Gná, the new Queen of the Valkyries is optional. Additionally, Freya has recovered her old Valkyrie wings, enabling her to fight again. As for the ones in the prequel, Freya grants them physical bodies free of corruption and renames them Shield Maidens, allowing them to aid the heroes during the final battle.
  • Heroine's Quest Features a valkyrie called Brynhild who has been cursed by Odinn because she fell in love with a mortal man. She provides the heroine with vital information on how to finish the game, and takes her soul to Valhalla in The Stinger.
  • La Tale has Valkyries appearing as enemies in Valhalla, which in this setting is on (not in) a huge satellite. They also appear as NPCs that run the Coliseum.
  • Namco has a series of games known as The Legend of Valkyrie, involving a blonde Valkyrie fighting monsters; it also received a web comic called Legend of the Valkyrie. She's something of a Series Mascot for Namco: besides her appearances in Namco × Capcom and Project × Zone, she also has cameos in various games like Tales of... and Soulcalibur.
  • In Mass Effect 2, it's mentioned that Drell mythology features beings analagous to Valkyries called "Siha", who are the warrior-angels of the Goddess Arashu. Thane Krios, your drell assassin squadmate, compares a Female Shepard to them at one point and if romanced, uses "Siha" as an affectionate nickname.
  • Max Payne follows Max's investigation of the designer drug "Valkyr". The symbolism of the name becomes apparent near the end of the game when we learn that Valkyr was originally a part of Government Conspiracy to produce super-strong soldiers. As Max puts it: "Valkyr was meant to be a white-winged maiden that would lift you up to a warrior's heaven. Instead, it had turned out to be a one-way demon ride to hell."
  • In NetHack, Valkyries are one of the many adventurer-types a player can choose.
  • Although the Valkyries in Odin Sphere still serve the eponymous Odin, he's merely the mighty warlord of the Aesir race rather than a god and his Valkyrie brigade (which includes his daughters Griselda and Gwendolyn) are warriors who have nothing to do with the traditional psychopomp role.
  • Found in several entries of the Ogre Battle saga, the Valkyrie class are versatile and fairly mobile units which usually prefer to use spears and polearms. They are an all-female class, except for Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together in which they are unisex, and are considered particularly useful in Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, in part because of their ability to boost the Mental Gauge of allied male troops.
  • While Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville doesn't have any actual valkyries in it, Electric Slide's costume, "Eternity Flash", is clearly modeled after one. (It's even called "Valkyrie" in the game files.) Interestingly enough, this is not the only reference to Norse Mythology in the game.
  • Puzzle & Dragons has Valkyries in all five elements. While the Light version is a boss of her own descended dungeon, the other four are REM machine drops.
  • Valkyries appear in Ragnarok Online as boss protocol enemies, and then there's an MVP boss (which is basically a real boss) called Valkyrie Randgris. They're kinda tough.
    • Much later on, the Odin's Temple dungeon where they spawn gets an additional map that features Valkyrie Ingrid and Valkyrie Reginleif as MVPs. Reginleif's name is also used as the name of a headgear, "Reginleif's Wings", whose description stated it's outright based on Valkyrie Reginleif's wings.
  • Several of Claire Redfield's outfits in the various Resident Evil games depict valkyries. It's been adopted by the fandom as her semi-official insignia, in line with Ada's butterfly, and to a much lesser extent, Leon's skull.
  • Like every other mythological character, Valkyries appear in the Shin Megami Tensei games. In Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne they have the neat "soul recruit" ability (said ability only works when used by them, even if another demon gets it via fusion.) where they recruit foes for your team with amazing success rates (even higher with strength focused races of demons such as Brutes.)
  • One of the playable deities in Smite is the assigned Valkyrie Queen of Norse Mythology, Freya.
  • Too Human, being half Norse Mythology and half Cyberpunk, features cyborg Valkyries who show up to carry you off to Valhalla every time you die in an annoyingly long and unskippable cutscene. A few times they also show up to claim fallen human soldiers (and one who hadn't quite died yet).
  • Rizelea is a Valkyrie, and one of the main characters of Trinity Universe. She has a tendency to jump into things but a good person nonetheless.
  • Valheim starts with your character being dropped off in the Tenth World by a valkyrie, which in this verse is a giant bird.
  • The Valkyrie Profile, as you may have guessed, centers around the exploits of the Valkyries themselves, and how it affects the lives of those they choose as Einherjar. The Valkyrie job is played straight (see Ur-Example above) it's arguably a Deconstruction of the popular Valkyrie image.
    • The third game, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume deconstructs it further: Main character Wylfred has sworn revenge on the Valkyrie, blaming her for the death of his father in battle. While many see it as an honor to be an einherjar, Wylfred is enraged, as the father's death led to the family becoming impoverished, and his sister dying of starvation.
  • Wizardry series has Valkyrie class, a female-only magic using warrior class. These favour polearms and sometimes stays alive when normally would be killed. Also, used for Helazoid amazons.
  • In World of Warcraft, the giant-like Vrykul represent an evil Fantasy Counterpart Culture for Norse culture and mythology. The Lich King used undead female vrykul, called Val'Kyr, who have been given glowing feathery wings of energy, to choose the worthy, turning them into Ymirjar, (loosely translates from old Norse as 'giant fighter'), while the unworthy are turned into undead called Vargul.
    • With the Lich King's defeat, Sylvanas of the Forsaken (the playable faction of undead) has taken in the "unemployed" val'kyr. Strangely, though, they've gone from being able to raise any race into undeath to being limited to vrykul and humans.
    • The Legion expansion provides further background on them: they are actually much older than the Lich King and he simply subverted the ones in Northrend to his service. The Val'kyr were originally created by the Titan Keeper Prime Designate Odyn as his counter-argument against the other Titan Keepers choosing to ascend the Dragon Aspects to serve as guardians of Azeroth. Odyn severed his section of Ulduar and moved it to Stormheim to create the Halls of Valor meant to store the Valarjar: elite Vry'kul warriors loyal to Odyn that would stand at the ready to defend Azeroth from all threats. The Valarjar as a whole are not happy about the fate of their Northrend brethren, or of Sylvanas' further appropriation of the wayward Val'kyr and her efforts to "recruit" more to her cause.
    • The Shadowlands expansion provides us with the Kyrian of Bastion, one of the infinite Afterlives located within the Shadowlands whose beings are tasked with ferrying the souls of the deceased across all worlds to the city of Oribos to be judged by the Arbiter and sent to their deserving Afterlife. Those souls that are sentenced to Bastion are only the virtuous and righteous souls who have sacrificed themselves for a just cause and can ascend to become Kyrian themselves after meditating for eons. The Kyrian are actually the Ur-Example of what the Val'kyr were based off of after Odyn made a deal with the Death Loa Mueh'Zala to sacrifice his eye in exchange for the ability to retrieve the souls of fallen Vry'kul to reform them as part of his Valarjar.
  • The free flash game Wulfgar unusually features one as a recurring antagonist. Showing up in each level to summon minibosses against the title character, she is finally fought and killed in the penultimate, third level. Turns out to be a Hero Antagonist, since the main character was actually manipulated by Loki to destroy all of his enemies and she was trying to prevent that. Luckily, you do end up beating the tar out of Loki himself to make things right.

    Web Animation 
  • In Dead Fantasy II, Rinoa (of all people) rocks quite a bit of the "modern" Valkyrie style and aesthetics, appearing as a winged figure over a battlefield, armed with sword and buckler-style shield, and who appears to whisk away the warriors in the midst of combat to another, Valhalla-esque series of battlefields and apparently in preparation for a greater conflict.
  • RWBY has Nora Valkyrie, an adorable boisterous Action Girl. While not a real Valkyrie, she won't hesitate to break someone's legs! She's also based on Thor!

    Webcomics 
  • The Valkyries are recurring characters in Brat-Halla, mostly for Fanservice.
  • In Gunnerkrigg Court, Brinnie is a fellow student hanging out with Surma, Anja and boys, so far appearing in flashbacks only. Word of God confirms that she is actually Brynhildr, the Valkyrie who was banished to Earth for disobeying Odin. Apparently in the Gunnerverse, she was sent to attend school at the Court, rather than being confined to a castle ringed by fire. On the other hand, Odin personally checks that she does all her homework. Tom also confirms that, in this 'verse, Valkyries have duties similar to psychopomps but not identical.

    Western Animation 
  • An episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog involved Muriel getting kidnapped by a group of Valkyrie after they mistake her for their long lost sister. It turns out the real sister was busy getting secretly engaged to the King of Trolls.
  • Hey Arnold!: On a Homage to the Looney Tunes example below, Helga has a Dream Sequence during a Class Trip to the opera house in the episode "What's opera, Arnold?", in which she comes out of the skies riding a Cool Horse dressed as a valkyrie and threatening Arnold's crush with a golden magic slingshot. Complete with lyrics to the "Ride of the Valkyries" song:
    Helga: (singing) Ruth is a loser/ How could you choose her/ How could you do that/ Football Head! Football Head!
  • Bugs Bunny disguises himself as a valkyrie in the classic Looney Tunes short What's Opera, Doc?.
  • Samurai Jack: The episode "Jack and the Lava Monster" has Jack fighting and defeating a monstrous rock-warrior cursed in that form by the Big Bad centuries ago. He has spent the intervening years waiting for a Worthy Opponent who can defeat him in honorable combat (so that he can join his fallen comrades in Valhalla). After Jack defeats him, he is freed from the curse and restored to his human form, but after centuries of living, his once dashing appearance rapidly ages into an old man as Valkyries descend and take him into Valhalla.
  • Vikingskool depicts Valkyries as towering warrior-women standing at least a good head or two taller than everyone else, with the most prominent one being the eponymous academy's headmistress Astrid.

    Real Life 


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