History YMMV / ThorVikings

* CompleteMonster: [[BloodKnight Harald Jaekelsson]] is a {{sadist}}ic, [[AxCrazy psychotic]] villain who embodies the worst stereotypes of Vikings. In 1003 AD, Harald leads his men to [[RapePillageAndBurn rape and slaughter all inhabitants of a village]] before setting sail for the new world. Cursed by a wise man to sail for a thousand years, Harald and his men arrive at New York as [[RevenantZombie nigh-invincible zombies]]. Setting about to slaughter, pillage and rape all they find, Harald and his comrades turn New York into a near death camp, with Harald selecting the seat of his new throne built of human bones at the Empire State Building. When he faces Thor, Harald tries to humiliate the God and taunts him to go die a coward's death before casting him into the Hudson River. Despite only having a brief appearance, Harald marks himself as one of the most truly vile beings the God of Thunder has ever faced.

* MisaimedFandom: As is typical for a Garth Ennis comic, it's intended to paint Thor (and the rest of the Avengers) as ineffectual and unheroic. The other Avengers are knocked out offscreen, and Thor himself requires the aid of three "normal" people to defeat Jaekelsson's crew. Problem is, without Doctor Strange's magic and Thor's leadership, those same people wouldn't have stood a fighting chance, and Thor is ultimately the one who defeats Jaekelsson himself. For a comic meant to make Thor look lame, it accomplishes pretty much the exact opposite. It arguably even proves the point of the superhero genre—it takes superheroes to beat supervillains.

* {{Padding}}: A lot of the [[{{Gorn}} blood and gore]] beyond the first two issues could easily be removed or cut down without effecting the story since it has already been established how evil Jaekelsson and his crew are. Its only purpose is to extend an incredibly thin story.

** The ending. Even after being boosted by Strange's magic and defeating Jaekelsson's crew, the man himself is still unbeatable. He easily trashes Thor and his other warriors while shrugging off everything they throw at him. Except since Thor has to win in the end, one NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech later and Thor is suddenly able to knock him into orbit. It comes out of nowhere and only works because [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin Thor has to win]].

* MisaimedFandom: As is typical for a Garth Ennis comic, it's intended to paint Thor (and the rest of the Avengers) as ineffectual and unheroic. The other Avengers are knocked out offscreen, and Thor himself requires the aid of three "normal" people to defeat Jaekelsson's crew. Problem is, without Doctor Strange's magic and Thor's leadership, those same people wouldn't have stood a fighting chance, and Thor is ultimately the one who defeats Jaekelsson himself. For a comic meant to make Thor look lame, it accomplishes pretty much the opposite.

* BrokenAesop: As is typical for a Garth Ennis comic, it's intended to paint Thor (and the rest of the Avengers) as ineffectual and unheroic. The other Avengers are knocked out offscreen, and Thor himself requires the aid of three "normal" people to defeat Jaekelsson's crew. Problem is, without Doctor Strange's magic and Thor's leadership, those same people wouldn't have stood a fighting chance, and Thor is ultimately the one who defeats Jaekelsson himself. For a comic meant to make Thor look lame, it accomplishes pretty much the opposite.

** Harald Jaekelsson was later made canonical when he was name-dropped in a 2018 issue of the main ''Thor'' series. However, the comic did not establish who Jaekelsson is or describe him in detail, nor does it make any mention of anything that happened in ''Vikings''. Therefore, while the character of Jaekelsson himself is canon to the main Marvel universe, the events of ''Vikings'' are not.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Even people who dislike this series will often admit it had an interesting concept, and would have been more so if someone as divisive as Garth Ennis-- who famously dislikes the superhero genre-- hadn't been the one writing it.
* {{Padding}}: A lot of the [[{{Gorn}} blood and gore]] beyond the first two issues could easily be removed or cut down without effecting the story since it has already been established how evil Jaekelsson and his crew are. Its only purpose is to extend an incredibly thin story.

* BrokenAesop: As is typical for a Garth Ennis comic, it's intended to paint Thor (and the rest of the Avengers) as ineffectual and unheroic. The other Avengers are knocked out offscreen, and Thor himself requires the aid of three "normal" people to defeat Jaekelsson's crew. The message ends up being broken, however, because without Doctor Strange's magic and Thor's leadership, those same people wouldn't have stood a fighting chance, and Thor is ultimately the one who defeats Jaekelsson himself. For a comic meant to make Thor look lame, it accomplishes pretty much the opposite.

* BrokenAesop: As a Garth Ennis comic, it's intended to paint Thor (and the rest of the Avengers) as ineffectual and unheroic. The other Avengers are knocked out offscreen, and Thor himself requires the aid of three "normal" people to defeat Jaekelsson's crew. The message ends up being broken, however, because without Doctor Strange's magic and Thor's leadership, those people wouldn't have stood a fighting chance, and Thor is ultimately the one who defeats Jaekelsson himself. For a comic meant to make Thor look lame, it accomplishes pretty much the opposite.

** Harald Jaekelsson was later made canon to Earth-616 when he was name-dropped in a 2018 issue of the main ''Thor'' series. However, the comic did not establish who Jaekelsson is or describe him in detail, nor does it make any mention of anything that happened in ''Vikings''. Therefore, while the character of Jaekelsson himself is canon to Earth-616, the events of ''Vikings'' may not be.

** Harald Jaekelsson was later made at least partly canon to Earth-616 when he was name-dropped in a 2018 issue of the main ''Thor'' series. However, the comic did not establish who Jaekelsson is or describe him in detail, nor does it make any mention of anything that happened in ''Vikings''. Therefore, while the character of Jaekelsson himself is canon to Earth-616, the events of ''Vikings'' may not be.

** The only reference to ''Vikings'' in any subsequent ''Thor'' comic was in the seventh issue of the 2018 version, where a female Viking named Erika the Red mentions fighting the "gutless goat-lovers who follow Harald Jaekelsson". Given the low regard she holds them in, this was almost certainly intended as an [[TakeThat insult towards Ennis's comic]].

* FanonDiscontinuity: Due to the incredible amounts of ContinuitySnarl and the fact that the entire story is clearly Creator/GarthEnnis [[WriterOnBoard taking an unwisely granted opportunity to shit on Thor]], pretty much nobody takes this series as canon to Earth-616, despite Ennis [[ArmedWithCanon insisting that it is]]. Many Thor fans ''despise'' this series and refuse to countenance it being canon, citing the vast array of continuity errors and blatantly bad writing for the sake of authorial satisfaction as evidence that it can't be canon.

** The only reference to ''Vikings'' in any subsequent ''Thor'' comic was in the seventh issue of the 2018 version, where a Viking named Erika the Red mentions the "gutless goat-lovers who follow Harald Jaekelsson".