Odin BorsonOdin

ODIN

Odin Borson is the King of Asgard, land of the Norse gods of myth. As a supreme warrior and slayer of the ice giants, he is a force to behold. Also known as the All-Father, King Odin raised a son named Thor with whom he defends their godly realm against threats planetary, cosmic, and sometimes even familial.

Monarch of Asgard

Odin’s grandfather Buri is thought to be the first Asgardian god. His son Bor with his wife giantess Bestia thus had three children—Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve. His travels across the realms since birth have become the stuff of legend.

As Odin grew in power, he began to pine for the day he would ascend to claim Bor’s place as leader of the gods. Odin allegedly helped create humanity, a controversial move which Bor disapproved. Odin, Vili, and Ve assumed rule over their lands and bested Ymir the Frost Giant, allegedly constructing the cosmos from Ymir’s corpse. Together, the three brothers established the city and realm of Asgard, which became the home of the gods.

As the trio set out to explore their surroundings, they came upon Muspelheim, land of Surtur the fire demon. Surtur was forging his sword Twilight, which could bring about the destruction of Asgard and Earth. The three brothers combined their power to transform into a single immense warrior and destroyed Twilight in combat. Escaping, Odin stole the Eternal Flame of Destruction which was needed to reforge Twilight, but Vili and Ve remained behind to hold back Surtur and seemingly perished at Surtur’s hands. With his brothers’ deaths, Odin received their godly energies; his enhanced might was called the “Odinpower.”

Assuming sole rule of Asgard, Odin established the Crimson Hawks—a line of personal guards. Although his personal friends were few, he briefly romanced Skarnheim’s Queen Jolena. Desiring offspring, Odin also sought out the Earth goddess Gaea, AKA Jord.

After Thor, Odin also fathered Vidar with the giantess Grid, but Vidar chose to live apart from the Asgardians for most of his life.

Odin was visited by Bor’s spirit and learned that another father would fall, leaving behind a son who Odin was to adopt, even though that son would betray him. During a battle with giants, Odin slew their leader, King Laufey of Jotunheim, and discovered Laufey’s son, Loki. Odin took Loki as his adopted son, as Bor had directed. Thus, Loki and Thor became brothers.

Odin also fathered the god Balder with his wife Frigga, but he learned from a psychic that if Balder were slain before Ragnarok, it would end Odin’s lineage for all time; Odin had Balder brought up in ignorance of his parentage to protect him.

Odinpower and Enchanted Weaponry

Odin is the most powerful of the Asgardian gods. Possessing the massive energy source called the Odinpower, or Odinforce, Odin’s physical abilities are augmented, including superhuman strength, lifting up to 75 tons, superhuman durability, and regenerative powers.

The Odinpower is used to channel cosmic energies into blasts of concussive force, energy shields, flight, interdimensional teleportation (capable of teleporting the entire realm of Asgard), heal the injuries of others, cast illusions, communicate with others across dimensional planes by manifesting an image of himself, rearrange matter at the molecular level, and increase his own physical size.

At regular intervals, usually occurring once per year, Odin enters the “Odinsleep,” a coma-like state, to retain mastery over the Odinpower. On occasions when Odin is awakened prematurely, he is left groggy and unable to access his full power; if Odin foregoes the Odinsleep too long, his power and endurance falter until a complete Odinsleep is performed. Odin’s power also wanes if he spends too long away from Asgard.

Odin can also impart the Odinpower into objects, granting them enchantments. Among items he has empowered are Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, Beta Ray Bill’s hammer Stormbreaker, Eric Masterson’s mace Thunderstrike, and Norvell’s hammer Crusher. Odin is also immune to the worthiness enchantment he had placed on Mjolnir to prevent its misuse and can alter the enchantments if he so wished.

He wields a variety of Uru-enchanted weapons forged by Eitri and Brokk. Odin can channel the Odinpower through his weapons, honing the energies for combat. His chief weapon is Gungnir, AKA “The Spear of Heaven,” a three-pronged spear that only he can wield. The spear is enchanted to generate a guardian serpent if anyone other than Odin lays hands upon it.

As a symbol of his rule, Odin bears the mace Thrudstok (“Scepter of Supremacy”), wears the Odinring upon his finger, and wields various swords (including Ravenseye) that can channel his power. By placing a sword into the ground, he can summon the energies of all Asgard’s gods to generate destructive blasts of energy. He possesses the Draupnir, an enchanted golden armband that duplicates itself eight times over each morning, providing Odin with limitless wealth. He also holds custody of the Oversword, an immense mystical blade that could bring about Ragnarok if it were unsheathed.

To traverse into other worlds, Odin rides upon the Viking long-boat Skipbladnir, which can navigate the “sea of space” surrounding Asgard and allows the crew to survive in the vacuum without protection. Skipbladnir can be shrunken and carried within Odin’s fist. Odin also rides upon the eight-legged steed Sleipnir, who can run on air as well as land. Odin’s other servant animals include the ravens Muninn (“Memory”) and Huginn (“Thought”), and the wolves Freki (“Ravenous”) and Geri (“Greedy”); Odin can send the creatures out as messengers to his subjects and observe most events they witness.

Enemies of the Throne

Surtur, the fire demon, forges a sword called Twilight which would bring about the end of Asgard and Earth. Odin perishes many times facing him and ultimately gets caught in eternal combat with the demon.

Loki, while an adopted son to Odin, is a master of mischief and betrays Odin on numerous occasions. While sometimes an ally, he is typically an enemy of the All-Father, disobeying his orders, creating intricate plots to undermine his brother Thor, and teaming up with Surtur to bring about Ragnarok.

Mangog has threatened Asgard and Odin on several occasions, once nearly causing Ragnarok by attempting to unsheathe the Oversword, and even killing Odin.

Royal Aide

Thor is Odin’s favored son. He sends Thor on missions to protect Asgard and seek out those that would destroy it and bring about Ragnarok. He gifts him the enchanted hammer Mjolnir, but only when he becomes worthy of it. While Thor is Odin’s son, they don't always agree and Odin occasionally punishes Thor for his love of Earth, which takes him away from his duties on Asgard.

Balder the Brave typically fights alongside Thor in many battles at the bidding of Odin. He is also one of Odin’s sons, which Odin keeps from him to prevent the prophecy that Balder helps bring about Ragnarok. He rules in Odin’s stead for a time and supports Thor when he becomes ruler.

Heimdall, Sentry of the Bifrost, reports to Odin and follows his orders to keep enemies of Asgard at bay or to cast them out when the occasion calls for it. Other Warriors loyal to Odin and Asgard include Sif and the Warriors Three—Fandral the Dashing, Hogun the Grim, and Volstagg the Enormous.

An Eye on History

Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve set a ring around their beloved planet Earth and the magic tree Yggdrasil grew up around it offering protection until the coming of man.

Sometime after his brothers perished to the fire demon Surtur, Odin engaged the demon in battle again on many occasions. One of them being the impetus that led Odin to create the Bifrost, a Rainbow Bridge that connects the dimensions of Asgard and Earth. As gods, the Asgardians were worshiped by Earth’s ancient Vikings, the Norsemen who touted tales of heroes, gods and demons.

While venerated by the Norse peoples, they were once pitted against the Olympian gods when their respective followers went to war, but Odin ended the conflict after confronting the Olympian lord Zeus. Odin interacted with Zeus again as a fellow member of the Council of Godheads, who interceded when the Celestials’ Third Host visited Earth. When the Celestials threatened to cut the gods off from Earth, Odin constructed the unstoppable armored Destroyer and his Oversword should he face the Celestials in battle.

Odin learned many details of Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods, from the prophetess Volla, including that Loki would indeed betray Asgard. Odin concocted many schemes to avoid Ragnarok, particularly seeking to spare Thor from its effects. In modern times, Odin punished Thor for provoking a senseless battle against the giants. Seeking to teach his son humility, Odin cast him into the form of a mortal named Donald Blake.

Blake retained no memory of his life as Thor and suffered from a lame leg, requiring the use of a cane. Becoming a doctor, Blake eventually found Mjolnir within a cave in Norway, where it had been transformed into a gnarled cane. By striking the cane on the ground he and Mjolnir would revert to their true form. Although Thor initially continued to believe that Blake was a real person, Odin eventually revealed the deception to him and fully restored his memories.

Odin was frustrated to find that Thor had fallen in love with Jane Foster, who once served as Blake’s nurse. Odin made repeated attempts at dividing the two and prevented Blake from revealing his true identity to Jane. Odin continued to interfere with Thor, at times banishing him and removing his powers for favoring either Earth or Jane over his responsibilities in Asgard. During a battle between Thor and the Olympian Hercules, Odin transferred part of the Odinpower to Seidring the Merciless to discipline Thor for sharing his double identity with Jane. Although Seidring’s interference caused Thor to lose the fight, Seidring sought to supplant Odin; Thor came to his father’s rescue, reconciling them. Odin finally consented to Thor wedding Jane and granted her godly powers, but Jane could not adjust to life in Asgard and finally chose to return to Earth as a mortal, ending her relationship with Thor. Odin quickly reintroduced Thor to Sif, his lover from earlier times whom Odin had always favored.

When Odin entered his Odinsleep to rebuild his power, Asgard was threatened by Mangog, who attempted to draw the Oversword from its scabbard. But Thor awakened Odin and he drove Mangog away. During the next Odinsleep, Loki assumed rule of Asgard and cast Odin’s body into the Sea of Eternal Night. The death goddess Hela found Odin in this state and removed a portion of his power, which had tapped into the abstract being Infinity.

When Surtur menaced Asgard, Balder heroically retrieved Odin and he awoke in time to expel Surtur from the realm. Soon after, Odin aided Thor in overcoming Infinity. When Mangog threatened Asgard anew, Odin led his forces against him but ultimately perished at Mangog’s hands. However, when the Olympian death god Pluto tried to conquer Asgard, Hela restored Odin to life to stop him.

When Asgard was invaded by the extraterrestrial Vrellnexians, Odin was captured and sold into slavery. Thor and his allies set Odin free and went on to combat Mercurio and Xorr the God-Jewel before returning to Asgard, which they found had been taken over by the sorcerer Igron, using duplicates of Odin, Thor, and other absent Asgardians. Igron was overthrown, and Odin reclaimed his throne.

Seeking to learn more about humanity, Odin cast himself into a mortal guise as “Orrin,” removing his own memories of his true identity. Orrin lived in San Geraldo, California, and befriended Judith Leonards and Wade Heath, experiencing poverty amongst them. When the Ennead (Egyptian) gods Osiris, Isis, and Horus were held captive by Seth, they cast a spell over Odin, causing him to assume the guise of Atum-Re, father of their line of gods. Thor aided these gods against Seth, after which they removed their spell.

As the time of Ragnarok came closer, Odin sacrificed his right eye to the creature Mimir for wisdom, and copied Thor’s power into artifacts. Ostensibly, this was so another could be given his might should Ragnarok happen while Thor was on Midgard. But really it was done to thwart Loki, who Odin suspected was planning to trigger Ragnarok. Arranged by Loki, Balder’s near-death almost caused Ragnarok, but Odin preserved Balder’s life. Loki had the mortal Red Norvell use the empowering artifacts to usurp Thor’s identity, but Norvell sacrificed himself battling the Midgard Serpent, his death in Thor’s place suspending Ragnarok.

The Fourth Host of the Celestials finally arrived and Odin renewed his alliance with the Olympians, likewise recruiting the Eternals to face the threat. Odin absorbed all of the Asgardians except Thor into the Destroyer to combat the Celestials, but they melted it; Thor revived the fallen Asgardians with aid from Earth’s other godly pantheons.

Odin once engaged in a cosmic chess game with the demonic Dormammu, with the fate of reality at stake—the game was ultimately stalemated.

When Jolena reentered Odin’s life he found himself attracted to her again, but attempted to put it aside for his wife Frigga’s sake. However, rumors of Odin’s supposed infidelity reached Loki and Tyr, God of War, who raised an army to overthrow Odin. Odin rallied with Thor’s aid and even Loki turned against Tyr when he realized the charges were false.

When the extraterrestrial warrior Beta Ray Bill bested Thor in combat and proved worthy to wield Mjolnir, Odin had Eitri create a new Uru mallet, which he named Stormbreaker and gifted to Bill.

As Surtur finally made his move to recapture the Flame of Eternal Destruction from Odin, Thor led Asgard’s armies against Surtur on Earth. But Surtur invaded the evacuated Asgard, battling Odin for the flame. Flanked by Loki and Thor, Odin finally dragged the fire demon into the ground and sealed them both within Muspelheim, ensuring Asgard’s safety.

Odin was believed dead for some time, but had been kidnapped from Muspelheim by Seth, who placed binders upon Odin that drained his power and rendered him undetectable by Surtur. Odin was finally rescued by Thor and removed the binders, bringing Surtur forth. Odin ultimately absorbed Surtur into himself to end the fight. Soon after, the mortal Eric Masterson was gravely injured while aiding Thor in battle. To save Masterson, Odin merged him with Thor, granting him a new identity like his time as Donald Blake. Odin’s absorption of Surtur soon backfired when Surtur returned to combat Ymir for his sword Twilight, but both were rendered inert within the Sea of Eternal Night.

Odin then entered an extended Odinsleep and transferred the Odinpower to his guardsman Heimdall. However, Loki made a deal with the demon Mephisto; when Loki’s body was slain in battle with Thor, Mephisto transferred his spirit into Odin’s body and took Odin’s soul captive. In Odin’s body, Loki had Thor banished into Masterson’s subconscious mind, but Masterson eventually freed Odin’s soul from Mephisto and restored him to his body—and Odin then helped Masterson release Thor from his prison. To reward Masterson, Odin had Eitri craft the mace Thunderstrike and enchanted it for Masterson’s use. Masterson took the name “Thunderstrike” as his new heroic identity.

Odin was distraught when Thor developed warrior’s madness, spurred on by the many times Thor had shared his power with others and assumed other identities. Although Thor was eventually cured, he had another falling out with his father and exiled himself to Earth. Odin revived Red Norvell, gave him the Uru hammer Crusher, and adopted him as his new son in Thor’s place. When Thunderstrike perished in battle, Thor offered his spirit a place in Valhalla, but Odin interceded and sent Masterson on to his own afterlife.

The human Price affixed a device to Yggdrasil (the world-tree of Asgard), which caused it to believe that Ragnarok had occurred. Seeing an opportunity to overcome Ragnarok, Odin transformed Asgardians into mortals so that they would be unaffected by the false Ragnarok. Cast amnesiac into the form of Wad, Odin emerged in his mortal body decades in the past and succumbed to alcoholism. The other “Lost Gods” helped Odin reclaim his identity and overcome Seth, who had sought to claim Yggdrasil’s power over them.

Immediately after Seth’s defeat, the Asgardians were all captured by the Dark Gods, ancient foes of Asgard. Thor finally led a team of allies to rescue his people and rebuild Asgard.

During another Odinsleep, Odin transferred his power to Sif. Upon awakening, he perished during another battle with Surtur. Thor assumed his father’s place and claimed the Odinpower, but it departed from Thor just as Ragnarok finally came to Asgard; assuming the form of a child, the Odinpower helped lead Thor on a journey to realize how Those Who Sit Above in Shadow had manipulated Asgard for ages. Although Thor could not halt Ragnarok, he prevented Those Who Sit Above in Shadow from exploiting them further. Thor soon reclaimed the Odinpower and revived all the Asgardians who fell in Ragnarok, but Odin himself remained deceased.

When Thor himself took an Odinsleep, he went upon a spiritual journey to a land of the dead where he found that Odin was locked in eternal combat with Surtur. Although Thor had the power to release his father, Odin preferred to remain where he was, ensuring that Surtur would never threaten his people.

King Odin and the throne of Asgard have faced recent challenges including the War of the Realms and the coming of the Mangog. With Odinson removed from his position as Thor—and with Jane Foster, the Mighty Thor, in his place—the Mangog rampaged across the realms, unbridled in its hatred of the gods. Seeking vengeance for an ancient war, the Mangog reached Asgard, where he blinded Heimdall, nearly killed the War Thor Volstagg, and demolished the Rainbow Bridge. Beaten close to death, Odin refused to accept Jane Foster’s help, though the Mighty Thor disregarded his hubris, and defeated the Mangog herself—though all of Asgard was virtually destroyed in the process.