The iconic Thor hammer Mjolnir had the following inscription on its side “Whosoever holds this hammer, if s/he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” Still, as we have seen often, simply being worthy didn’t necessarily turn someone into Thor. The fact is, everyone including Vision, Captain America (including his Hydra version), and even Squirrel Girl was capable of lifting Mjolnir.
But, if not the hammer then what makes someone qualify to be Thor? It is well-known that there could be multiple worthy people and now we have seen in the movies that one could be Thor even without Mjolnir. Here we are going to take a look some characters that have been deemed to be worthy of being Thor.
Ragnarok
In the first Civil War, Thor was not a participant. He was busy with the prophecy of the Asgardian Ragnarok, and that’s why the Son of Odin was not involved with the chaos related to the notorious Superhuman Registration Act. However, Reed Richards and Tony Stark were not going to be stopped by even death.
They built a clone of Thor and managed to send their version of God of Thunder into the battle. It was later called Ragnarok or Clor (Clone Thor), but, Project Lightning was able to overpower and kill the gigantic hero Goliath. Later it was revealed that the clone was manipulated by the Skrull impersonator of Hank Pym, and that was the cause of his psychotic, killer tendencies.
Ultimate Thor
Just like the Ultimate universe, the Thor from Marve Universe 1610 is a grim and way more complex than the typical 616 version. In this universe, a political activist and social disruption specialist Thorlief Golmen claims himself to be a reincarnation of Thor, after serving a nervous breakdown and spending more than a year in a mental hospital.
His claims were seen with a lot of doubt, but, he was the real Thor. He refused Nick Fury’s offer to become a member of the Ultimates initially because that version of The Avengers was more like an army. He later joined it after the President gave it a budget hike. He is not as strong as the 616 Thor. Once Magneto stole his hammer and unleashed a destructive streak.
Storm Thor
During Secret Wars from 2015, God Emperor Doom became the king of the planet Battleworld, and there was no better force to keep his rule going and honor the law than a Corps comprising of various Gods of Thunder, called the Thor Corps.
There were various Thors working in the Thor Corps, and those included Alison Blaire of Earth 15513 and even a Dino-Thor from Earth 200111. These were the best Thor versions handpicked from infinite universes. One of the key members was Storm Thor, the ideal hybrid of Thor and the X-Men character Storm.
Beta Ray Bill
Another iconic creation by Walt Simonson was Beta Ray Bill who was first seen in Thor #337. Deliberately starting as a villain, the Korbinite was first shown as a Thor enemy, and during their battle, Thor was separated his hammer for one minute, turning him back into the human Donald Blake. That’s when Beta Ray Bill hit Blake’s cane on the ground and turned into Thor.
This was the first incidence of someone else claiming the powers of Thor, so it was a major event. Odin had stated that Bill and Odinson would battle until death to become the rightful claimant of the powers. Bill won the fight but didn’t kill Odinson, declaring that he was too good an opponent. That’s when Odin created another hammer for Bill, named Stormbringer.
Jane Foster Thor
For a very long time, Jane Foster was the lady love of Donald Blake as well as Thor, and she was also seen in the first two Thor movies (a character played by Natalie Portman). Since 2014, the character has been playing Thor after Odinson was declared unworthy in the Original Sin event.
Jane Foster has been waging two different wars. As Thor, she wields Mjolnir so well that she has proved to be a better Thor than Odinson. Her human form is losing a battle with Thor. She has become a key member of the present Avengers and took on Malekith in the War of Realms.
Thor Odinson
The original Odinson, Loki’s brother Thor Odinson has been wielding Mjolnir protecting Asgard, and Midgard (aka Earth). He was a founding member of the Avengers in the comic books as well as the movies and is one of the best Marvel heroes.
However, in recent times, his fortunes nosedived, but, with Marvel Legacy, his redemption was on the cards. His popularity skyrocketed courtesy of Thor: Ragnarok and he has almost regained his lost glory. The fact is there could not be a stronger Thor than Thor.
Old King Thor
This version of Thor is the strongest Thor. He survived Asgard’s destruction, deaths of all other Gods, of planet Earth and the heavens, defeated Galactus, killed Gorr the God Butcher, this Thor is the inheritor of the Odin-Force. He was called The Destroyer and perched on the throne of Asgard as the ultimate All-Father, and there is no doubt that King Thor is the supreme God.
He lost one eye and an arm (he gained the arm of a destroyer and a great looking eyepatch), but, King Thor is a fighter. Debuting in Thor: God of Thunder, it took the collected power of King Thor, Young Thor, and Thor Odinson to beat the God Butcher, but, when they did, King Thor claimed Gorr’s sword for himself, turning into an old God even mightier, and by far the strongest of them all.
