#45. Thor Odinson

  

Lore

The God of Thunder

"Was thor supposed to be in this free-for-all?"
"No, Bob, he just climbed out of the stands and joined in."

- Valhallan announcers, a typical Thursday


"Well at first I'd just stick to my signature move, 'Hard Hammer swing with Lightning,' and rely on being a god to get the K.O. That does not work at higher levels."

- Thor's post-game interview, after getting bodied by Scarlet

As the story goes...

Thor has crushed the skulls of giants. Thunder is the roar of his chariot wheels across the sky. He is destined to slay the vast serpent that encircles the world. But if you ask him about his favorite fight, he will most likely give you a match-by-match account of his 2v2 Championship season with Jhala.

The God of Lightning and (as he is quick to remind you) Fertility is also the Grand Tournament's biggest fan. It was Thor who wore the first giant foam Bödvar crown, Thor who coined the term "Brawlhalla," and Thor who created "bleacher-jumping"—the Asgardian tradition of reckless spectators joining free-for-alls mid-match. In fact Thor jumped into the fight from the stands so often, he has been accepted as a Legend. Ulgrim even made him a special long handle for his hammer Mjolnir.

Thor remains a huge fan of all the top legends, especially Bödvar. After enough ale, Thor and Kor will reenact their epic battles in the Elven Wars.

Connections

• Kor matched fists with Thor himself during the battle against the Elves
• Bodvar insists Orion is Thor in disguise
• A pair of upstart Dwarven smiths (rivals to Ulgrim and the other sons of Ivaldi) made Thor's hammer 
• When Thor and the valkyries stopped the elven invasion on Asgard, the Elven King blamed Dusk for the defeat.
• Xull challenged Thor for leadership for Thursday
• Petra's orb sparring matches with Thor draw huge crowds and huge fines for property damage - both of which the two ignore.

Context

The famous god of war, thunder, and (of course) fertility needs no introduction. Thor is certainly the most well known of the Norse gods and goddesses. There are many tales of his battles with giants and other evil creatures. He is fated to fight Jormungand, the serpent that circles the earth, and they will defeat each other in Ragnarok. His name appears once a week, on Thursday ("Thor's day").

For the origin story of Thor's hammer, Mjollnir, look up the Sons of Ivaldi.

Many people are familiar with the way Mjollnir works in the Marvel Comics: Only those worthy to wield the power of Thor can lift the hammer. This restriction is not found in classic Norse mythology, so we can assume that anyone can use Thor's hammer in the Brawlhalla universe. Good luck taking it from him, though! It also turns out that, in classic Norse mythology, Mjollnir is but one of three of Thor's "crucial possessions." According to the Prose Edda, the other two are Járngreipr (iron gauntlets likely required to wield the original short handle of the hammer), and Megingjörð (a belt that doubles Thor's strength). Interesting, then, given that Thor's Brawlhalla design shows him wearing gloves and a fancy belt. As someone commented below, Thor with the gauntlet and hammer weapons would have been a very appropriate choice, but we already have Kor.


An orb is an interesting choice for Thor. Since it is a floating magical ball, and we know Thor can channel lightning, it's possible the orb is a magical "focus," something he uses to cast lightning when he doesn't have the hammer. Perhaps Dusk's orb was the inspiration for Thor's?

Lore

The Bounty Hunter

“He hunts me all day long. Night is worse because while he’s hunting me, I’m also dreaming he’s hunting me. I hope he catches mein the daytime. I’m even more afraid of the dream version.”

– Mad Mandibles, at his support group for outlaws hunted by Reno

“These are four six-shooters. That’s uh, four plus two, carry the one… that’s twenty-six bug-bullets. Are you feeling lucky?”

– Reno

As the story goes...

With four pearl-handled lazblasters and his robot companion Orbot, Reno traveled the Rexxar star system hunting down the most vicious outlaws in the tri-stars. Four arms, compound eyes, and utter fearlessnses make Chitinoids natural gunslingers, but Reno added a dose of genius that made him the greatest tracker this side of the Pecosid asteroid belt.

Reno never talked about his past. Some said he’d been raised by the wild Ocarians in the Endless Wastes. Some said he’d been a commander in the Zhaktar Wars. But everyone knew it wasn’t smart to cross the laconic gunslinger if you valued your carapace.

He brought in the Gygan millipede in 500 tiny handcuffs. He collared the ninety-foot Death Worm, wanted for not returning library books. He stayed busy, often scheduling shootouts for high noon, 12:15, 12:30, and 12:45, then after lunch starting at 2:00.

But even for the best space bug cowboys, bounty hunting isn’t much of a living, and it always ends on the wrong end of a laser. In Valhalla, Reno pretty much keeps to himself, though Orbot has become quite social, hanging out with Cassidy and even fighting for Thor when his Thunder Ball was in the shop. Reno fights for prize money and dreams of maybe winning enough to stake himself a little ranch on the Ifing river.

Connections

• (No mentions of Reno in other legends' lore pages has yet been found)

Context

[In development]