Ragnarok (comics)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ragnarök is a
supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...
appearing in
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. A cyborg clone of the hero
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
, Ragnarök has a similar appearance and abilities but uses them in opposition to the established heroes.


Publication history

Ragnarök first appeared in ''
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
'' #3 (July 2006), and was created by
Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer and television producer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series '' The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ex ...
and
Steve Mcniven Steven McNiven is a Canadian comic book artist. He first gained prominence on CrossGen's '' Meridian'', before moving onto books such as ''Ultimate Secret'', ''Marvel Knights 4'', '' New Avengers'' and ''Civil War''. Early life Steven McNiven ...
. Ragnarök began appearing as a regular character in the ''Dark Avengers'' series, beginning with ''Dark Avengers'' #175.


Fictional character biography

When the real
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
was missing in action and presumed dead,
Tony Stark Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charac ...
took one of his hairs, which he had retained from the first meeting of the
Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...
. He helped
Reed Richards Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member, and the leader, of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace and ...
and
Hank Pym Dr. Henry Jonathan "Hank" Pym () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, the character first appeared in ''Tales to ...
clone the Asgardian DNA within while fusing the cloned DNA with
Stark Industries Stark Industries, later also known as Stark International, Stark Innovations, Stark Enterprises and Stark Resilient, is a fictional company appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The company is depicted as being owned an ...
technology. This resulted in the creation of a new cyborg clone of Thor. The clone was put into action during the superhero
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, sent to battle anti-registration heroes. The heroes were easily brought down by the cyborg clone, but
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
helped the heroes to escape. The battle got out of hand when the clone killed
Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) a ...
by blasting him through the chest and set out to kill the rest of the anti-registration heroes. Reed Richards deactivated the cyborg with a vocal code and later operated on his brain to prevent such a mishap from happening again. The cyborg clone of Thor returned during the final battle between the pro- and anti-registration heroes. He faced off against
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
and
Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...
who defeat the cyborg clone by ramming his own hammer into his skull claiming it was an insult to the Odinson and yelling at the cyborg clone "Thou art no Thor." The clone's remains were taken to Camp Hammond and stored in the laboratory for experimentation.
Baron Von Blitzschlag Baron Werner Von Blitzschlag is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Dan Slott and artist Stefano Caselli, the Baron's last name is German for "Lightning-Strike." Publication history ...
tells Pym he admires his work, showing the Thor clone to demonstrate this. During the "
Secret Invasion "Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight-issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008. The story involves a subversive, long-term in ...
" storyline, it was revealed that the Hank Pym who helped create the cyborg clone was actually the clone of a
Skrull The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Skrulls first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. They originated fro ...
impostor named
Criti Noll The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Skrulls first appeared in ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jac ...
who had placed a program into the cloned Thor's remains as a contingency in case of the invasion's failure. Unless a special code which only the Skrull knew was input every eighteen days, the cyborg clone would reawaken. With the clone of Criti Noll's death during the Invasion, this event came to pass during the " Dark Reign" storyline. Malfunctioning and believing himself to be the true Thor, the cyborg clone believed he had been imprisoned in Camp Hammond. He threatened Baron Von Blitzschlag into returning his hammer to him and set out to destroy the Initiative. The cyborg clone swiftly defeated the Initiative's forces and the
New Warriors The New Warriors is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They traditionally consisted of teenage and young adult heroes, and were often seen to serve as a junior counterpart to Avengers (comics), ...
, who had arrived to help. During that time, he took on the name Ragnarök (which the Baron had called him, declaring that he would "bring the end of all that is"). Ragnarök was only stopped when Von Blitzschlag, whose electrical powers made him immune to Ragnarök's lightning, arrived on the battlefield. The Baron showed Ragnarök footage of his creation and showed him that the real Thor had returned and had formed a new
Asgard In Nordic mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ''Ásgarðr'' ; "enclosure of the Æsir") is a location associated with the gods. It appears in a multitude of Old Norse sagas and mythological texts. It is described as the fortified home of the Æsir ...
above the city. Disgusted by what he perceived as Asgard's "indignity", Ragnarök left Camp Hammond to confront the real Thor. During the "
Siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
" storyline,
Volstagg Volstagg is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a charter member of the Warriors Three, a trio of Asgardian adventurers and supporting cast of Thor. He is known for having multiple children. ...
encounters Ragnarök after being released from jail by the Broxton
sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
. Volstagg fights him on an open field to avoid more deaths, but Volstagg is defeated. Thor later fights Ragnarök and easily destroys him.
Norman Osborn Norman Osborn is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July 1964) as the first ...
later has A.I.M. work on rebuilding Ragnarök so that he can join his second incarnation of the
Dark Avengers ''Dark Avengers'' is a 2009–2013 American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is part of a series of titles that features various iterations of the superhero team the Avengers, with this version of the team - unbeknownst to the pub ...
. Ragnarök is rebuilt under Norman Osborn's control and sent to confront the New Avengers. Ragnarök is heavily damaged in the fight, suffering multiple injuries while fighting
Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...
before
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
throws Iron Fist at him, where Iron Fist's chi-punch nearly destroys him. Ragnarök reappears alongside the former Dark Avengers as one of the new Thunderbolts. Ragnarök and the Dark Avengers team are thrown into the alternate world of Earth-13584 with John Walker where they are captured by that world's version of
Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
. Iron Man assumes that Mister Fantastic is responsible for Ragnarök and flies off. Having gotten control of this world's Hank Pym, June Covington learns the history of this reality and then uses some Stark teleportation technology to remove a device from Ragnarök's brain. When Barney Barton wakes up in Iron Man's lab to see U.S. Agent restored, he also sees that Ragnarök is still unconscious and Ai Apaec is in miniature form. Iron Man returns to his tower and finds that Henry Pym is experimenting on Ragnarök by removing his control implant. Moonstone and Ragnarök arrive at the site where this Earth's Thor died and where Thor's hammer Mjolnir lies. Ragnarök acknowledges that he is just a copy of the real Thor and that he does not know who or what he is. He then grasps the hammer. Lightning then strikes and Ragnarök emerges with a new bald-headed look and goatee. Ragnarök then comes crashing down devastating Thing's monsters. As this reality was starting to the sliver of time that A.I.M. having claimed starting to be distorted, the Dark Avengers race to find the A.I.M. base. Their arrival is detected and the A.I.M. agents attempt to close the sliver gate, but Ragnarök manages to keep it open for the entire team to enter. Ragnarök and the rest of the Dark Avengers were able to return to their world.


Powers and abilities

As a
cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.
clone of Thor, Ragnarök possesses a portion of the powers and knowledge of the God of Thunder prior to Thor's acquisition of the Odinforce. This includes super-strength, extensive combat knowledge, godly stamina, high resistance to physical injury, immunity to all Earthly diseases, and superhuman agility and reflexes. Ragnarök's hammer, though not the enchanted Mjolnir, is constructed of a vibranium and adamantium alloy. The hammer is able to absorb and discharge lightning, like the true Mjolnir, and has circuitry within its head, which allows Ragnarök to direct it mentally. However, unlike Mjolnir, it can be picked up or lifted by others. During a visit to Earth-13584, Ragnarök acquires that universe's version of Mjolnir and is accepted as worthy to wield it.


Reception

In 2022, ''
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...
'' included Ragnarok in their "10 Most Powerful Hercules Villains In Marvel Comics" list.


Other versions


What If?

In a " What If? Civil War" scenario titled "What if Iron Man Lost the Civil War," Iron Man confronted
Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
and admitted that while he felt he was doing the right thing, he was worried that he was going about it the wrong way and that he needed Cap's help. This admission persuades Captain America not to use a concealed device that would have disabled Iron Man's armor. Unfortunately, an agent on board the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier detected the device and released Ragnarök prematurely. Reed Richards was quickly knocked out by the clone before Richards could employ the shutdown code. When Ragnarök tried to kill Bill Foster, Iron Man leapt in front of him to block the blast. Ragnarök then attempted to kill Iron Man, but Captain America held him off long enough for Iron Man's armor to repair itself. The two heroes then joined forces, which inspired every other hero in the pro/anti-registration conflict to join together to defeat Ragnarök.


Contest of Champions

The 2015 ''Contest of Champions'' series featured an unidentified alternate reality's version of Civil War that had everything go in Tony Stark's favor. He used the Reality
Infinity Gem The Infinity Gems (originally referred to as Soul Gems and later as Infinity Stones) are six fictional Gemstone, gems appearing in American comic book, American comic books published by Marvel Comics, named after and embodying various aspects of ...
to undo the death of Goliath at the hands of Ragnarök.''Contest of Champions (2015)'' #9-10. Marvel Comics.


In other media


Video games

* Ragnarök appears in '' Marvel: Avengers Alliance''. He appears in Spec-Ops #12 where he is a member of Dell Rusk's Dark Avengers. * Ragnarök is a playable character in ''
Lego Marvel's Avengers ''Lego Marvel's Avengers'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Windows, ...
'' and ''
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 ''Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on 14 November 2 ...
''. * Ragnarök is a playable character in the match-three mobile game ''
Marvel Puzzle Quest ''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' is a video game released by D3 Publisher and Marvel Entertainment on October 3, 2013, and developed by Demiurge Studios. The fourth installment in the '' Puzzle Quest'' series, it is a free-to-play, match-three ''Bejeweled ...
''.


Toys

* A figure of Ragnarök was released in Hasbro's 3.75" ''
Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...
Gigantic Battles'' line, packaged with a 12"
Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) a ...
figure.


References


External links

* * * {{Mark Millar Comics characters introduced in 2006 Characters created by Mark Millar Cyborg supervillains Fictional characters with electric or magnetic abilities Clone characters in comics Marvel Comics cyborgs Fictional hammer fighters Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Norse mythology in popular culture Thor (Marvel Comics)