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Liberally taken, adapted and updated from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition (1986):

Real Name: Thor
Occupation: (as Thor) Warrior, Adventurer, Lord of Asgard (as Jake Olsen) emergency medical technician.
Maritial Status: Single.
Base of Operations: Asgard, New York City.
First Appearance: Journey Into Mystery #83

Height: 6' 6"
Weight: 640 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond

Strength Level: Thor possesses Class 100 strength, enabling him to lift (press) over 100 tons. Thor strength is doubled when he wears his enchanted belt of strength.

History:
Thor is the bloodson of Odin, lord of the gods of Asgard, and Jord, who is
also known as Gaea, the elder goddess of the Earth. Odin sought to father a son whose power would derive from Earth as well as Asgard, and hence he sought to mate with Jord. Odin created a cave in Norway where Jord gave birth to Thor. Months after the infant Thor was weaned, Odin brought him to Asgard to be raised. From that time onward Odin's wife, the goddess Frigga, acted as Thor's mother. Not until recent years did Thor learn that Jord was his mother.

A severed eye of Odin once grew to great size, achieved sentience, and
informed Thor that another Thor had existed before the current Thor's
birth. This previous Thor was also the son of Odin, but had red hair, not
blond hair like the current Thor. This previous Thor is said to have killed
the Midgard Serpent, and to have been killed himself by the dying monster's venom, at Ragnarok, the destruction of a previous version of Asgard. Odin himself was killed, but a new Odin appeared in the place of several gods who survived Ragnarok, and it was this new Odin who fathered the current version of Thor.

Possibly these previous versions of Odin and Thor were earlier incarnations of the Odin and Thor of today. However, this account of Thor's origin by the severed eye of Odin may very well be entirely false. The eye's motives for constructing such a story, if it is false, are unknown.

The young Thor was raised alongside Loki, who had been adopted by Odin after Loki's father, the Frost Giant Laufey, had been killed in battle.
From childhood Loki was jealous of Thor, and his hatred of Thor grew over the years to a wish to destroy him. Thus began Loki's enmity for Thor, which persists to this day.

When Thor was eight, Odin sent him to Nidalvellir, the land of the dwarves, to bid the dwarves Brokk and Eitri to create three treasures for Asgard's ruler. Among the three treasures that Brokk and Eitri created was the Uru hammer Mjolnir (although Loki sabotaged the creation of the hammer so that its handle was made too short). Odin bestowed various enchantments upon the hammer, including one that made it impossible for anyone to lift it except someone who was truly worthy of wielding it. Odin then declared that he was reserving the use of Mjolnir for Thor, who would receive it on the day that great deeds of selfless valor had proved him worthy of it.

For years Thor strove to become strong and worthy enough to wield the
hammer, and was responsible for many heroic deeds. Finally, when Thor was sixteen, Odin presented him with the hammer, declaring he was indeed worthy of it. Thor became Asgard's greatest warrior.

Before Thor was twenty, he had fallen in love with the goddess Sif.
However, at some point their romance came to an end, although they have renewed it in recent years.

Sometime in the 9th Century A.D., Thor journeyed to Earth for the first
time and promoted his worship among the Vikings. Both the Norsemen and the Germans, who called him Donner, came to worship Thor and other Asgardians. Thor actively encouraged the adulation of his Viking worshippers for years, and also encouraged them to find glory in battle. But finally, Thor discovered that a party of his Viking worshippers had slaughtered a Christian monastery. Shocked, realizing that some of his more zealous worshippers were committing atrocities like this one in his name, Thor withdrew from Earthly activities altogether, and allowed the worship of the gods of Asgard to die out.

According to the severed eye of Odin, Odin himself later caused Thor to
live on Earth in the mortal guises of the Germanic heroes Siegmund and his son, Siegfriend. In these two roles, Thor played a major role in Odin's
efforts to regain the dangerously powerful Ring of the Nibelung. Siegmund was killed by the warrior Hunding, but Thor was reborn as Siegfriend, the son of Siegmund and his love Sieglinde. Siegfriend took possession of the Ring after killing the giant Fafnir, who guarded it in the guise of a dragon. (This Fafnir is not to be confused with the dragon Fafnir whom Thor has fought in recent years.) Siegfriend then fell in love with the Valkyrie Brunnhilde, but was murdered by Hagen, the son of Alberich, the dwarf who had created the Ring and placed a curse upon it. Odin, however, resurrected Siegfried as Thor, who again had his full godly powers, but wiped out Thor's memory of his two mortal identities. It is unclear how much, if any, of this account by Odin's severed eye is true.

Thor led an active, adventurous life in Asgard, doing battle with Frost
Giants and other enemies of the realm. But Odin grew increasingly
dissatisfied with Thor's headstrong behavior and excessive pride. On one
occasion Thor violated a truce between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants, thereby nearly starting a war. Finally, while Thor was engaged in a brawl in an Asgardian tavern, Odin summoned him to his presence. Odin had decided that it was time Thor learned humility. Odin had Thor surrender his hammer to him, and then sent him to Earth in the mortal guise of a crippled young medical student named Donald Blake, stripped of his memory of his true identity.

As Blake, Thor learned the value of humble perseverance in dealing with his injured leg and he came to care for the sick and dying, first as a medical student, and later as a successful physician. After leaving medical school, Blake opened a private practice in New York, and quickly gained renown as a great surgeon.

After Thor had spent ten years in the role of Blake, Odin planted within
Blake's mind the suggestion to take a vacation in Norway. There Blake
encountered a party of alien Kronans, also known as the Stone Men from
Saturn. Blake fled from the Kronans into a cavern, the very same one that
had served as Thor's birthplace millennia ago, where Odin had left Thor's hammer in the enchanted form of a wooden cane. Trapped in the cavern by a great boulder, Blake struck the boulder with the cane in frustrated anger, and was transformed back into his true godly form of Thor. As Thor he escaped the cavern and drove off the Kronans.

At first Thor still had no memory of his past life as an Asgardian god,
although as months passed, more of his memories returned. Finally, a few years later, Odin revealed to him the false nature of the Blake identity
and the reason for it. 

Thor maintained his Blake identity on Earth and continued his medical
practice. Part of his affinity for Earth was his subconscious realization
that his maternal heritage was on this world. The other part was simply his love for humanity and his need to experience those things that only mortals could know. Thor came to divide his time between Earth and Asgard, and does so to this day.

For years Thor was in love with Jane Foster, who worked as a nurse for
Blake. Odin disapproved of Thor's love for this mortal, but eventually the
romance between Thor and Foster came to an end, and Thor renewed his past relationship with Sif. That relationship has suffered strains in recent years, and it is unclear what path it may take in the future.

Thor was a founding member of the team of superhuman champions known as the Avengers, and has continued to serve with the team from time to time through the present.

Recently Thor gave up his identity as Don Blake. In fact, Odin transferred the enchantment enabling Thor to change into mortal form and back from Thor's hammer to that of his ally and alien counterpart, Beta Ray Bill. With the aid of Nick Fury, Public Director of SHIELD, Thor has adopted a new "secret identity," that of construction worker Sigurd Jarlson. Thor does not actually become a mortal in his Jarlson identity; he simply dresses as a normal contemporary Earthman and wears glasses.

Lately, Thor has grown a beard to conceal the terrible scars left on his
face due to wounds inflicted by the Asgardian death goddess Hela. It is not known if these scars will even completely heal and fade.

After Odin disappeared during his battle with Surtur, the people of Asgard wished to make Thor, Odin's designated heir, their new ruler. Unwilling to give up his guardianship of Earth or his life of adventure, at least not yet. Thor declined the offer and instead nominated his friend Balder the Brave to be Asgard's ruler. Balder now rules until such time as Odin returns or Thor himself claims the throne.

Seth, the Egyptian God of the Dead, launched a massive assault on Asgard which was successfully repelled. Thor and his companions discovered that Seth had captured Odin and was using the Odinpower to fuel his conquests. Once freed, Odin return to Asgard and reclaimed his rightful place as Lord of Asgard.

(...)

Thor was killed in a fierce battle with the rampaging Destroyer. Odin revived his son by merging his body, mind, and spirit with Jake Olsen. By tapping his fist on the ground, Jake Olsen can transform into Thor.

Later, Odin is forced to separate Jake Olsen and Thor in order to save Thor's from succumbing to mortal wounds. During Thor's convalescence, Surtur and his legions attack the Earth and the forces of Asgard are there to meet them. Odin gives his life to destroy Surtur. Thor reluctantly assumes the throne of Asgard and ascends to his place as Lord of Asgard. 

Tarene, the Desginate, has assumed a mortal form and armed with a version of Thor's hammer defends Midgard as Thor Girl.

Weapons:
Thor's principal weapon is the enchanted hammer named Mjolnir, one of the most formidable weapons known to man or god. Forged out of the mystical metal Uru, whose chief properties are durability and ability to maintain enchantment, the hammer is two feet long and its handle is wrapped in leather which terminates in a thong. Besides being a nearly indestructible throwing weapon, the hammer has been given six enchantments by Odin to augment its physical qualities.

The first enchantment is that no living being can lift the hammer from the ground unless he or she is worthy. Hence, so far as is known, only Odin, Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Dargo (the future Thor) and Captain America are able to lift Mjolnir. Apparently no one without superhuman strength can lift the hammer, whether he or she is worthy or not. (As Dargo, a normal human was able to weild Mjolnir)

The second enchantment causes the hammer to return to the exact spot from which it is thrown after striking its target.

The third enchantment enables the hammer's wielder to summon the elements of storm (wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and so forth) by stamping its handle twice upon the ground and willing it to do so. Thor can also project various forms of mystical energy from the hammer without striking it on the ground.

The fourth enchantment enables the hammer to open interdimensional portals, allowing its wielder to travel to other dimensions, such as Earth to
Asgard. (It is not known how Thor locates the dimension to which he wishes to travel.)

The fifth enchantment, bestowed on the hammer by Odin in recent times, enabled Thor to transform into the mortal Don Blake, by stamping the hammer once upon the ground and willing the change to occur. When Thor became Blake, Mjolnir became a gnarled wooden cane. By stamping the cane upon the ground and willing the change to occur, Blake could turn himself back to his godly form of Thor, and the cane would again become the hammer. When the hammer was in the form of a cane, anyone could lift it. A provision of the enchantment required that the hammer could not be out of Thor's hand for over 60 seconds while he was on Earth without his spontaneous reversion to his mortal self.

Most of the fifth enchantment has been transferred to the hammer of Beta Ray Bill. However, enough of the fifth enchantment remains in Thor's hammer so that by stamping his hammer, he can instantaneously transform his Thor costume into Sigurd Jarlson's clothing, or vice versa. The hammer itself does not change form.

The hammer has had one enchantment that has been rescinded. Formerly the hammer could be swung in such a way as to generate chronal displacement inertia, enabling its wielder to travel through time. Most of this property, which is separate from the hammer's power to traverse dimensions, was removed by Immortus, and Thor himself recently apparently exhausted whatever time-traveling power Mjolnir had remaining.

By throwing the hammer and grasping its leather thong, Thor can magically propel himself through the air in the semblance of flight. Just as the hammer can magically change its course in order to return to his hand when he throws it, so can it be influenced by its wielder to change its course while it is in his grasp in flight. The precise manner in which Thor "steers" his hammer while in flight is not known, nor is the precise speed and distance Thor can attain with a single throw. Thor has been observed to be able to attain escape velocity from Earth's gravity with a single throw and to overtake space vessels.

The images displayed on this site are copyright © Marvel Comics, and are used
  without permission.  This compendium is intended as a reference work only. If you
 have any comments, questions, corrections, additional information please e-mail me!
jshayer@yahoo.com
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