Powers of Thor

Thor is unquestionably the most powerful of the original Silver Age Marvel heroes. He has a wide range of powers and wields Mjolnir in battle, arguably the most powerful weapon in the Marvel Universe. Below is a list of all of the known powers and abilities of Thor and his hammer. I have tried to list all of the powers that Thor has exhibited, but I most certainly missed some. If you know of any I left out, please let me know!

Commonly used powers and abilities

These are powers that most fans associate with Thor since they are used frequently.

1. Super-human strength

Thor's strength level is officially rated at Class 100 in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (OHOTMU). This rating is the highest possible given and means that the character's upper strength limit has not been measured. As an example of Thor's strength, he has battled the Hulk many times without his hammer and traded blow for blow with the green behemoth. Since the Hulk's strength increases with his anger, his peak strength is probably greater than Thor's. Regardless, Thor is absolutely one of the physically strongest heroes around. In Norse mythology, Thor was the only living being strong enough to lift his hammer.

2. Battle experience

Thor has lived for thousands of years and has battled countless giants, trolls, and demons in defense of Asgard. There is really no other hero that can claim to have this much experience in battle.

3. Resistance & invulnerability

As an Asgardian, Thor inherits a great deal of physical invulnerability and resistance to magical and energy attacks. This, coupled with the Asgardians' superior healing ability, makes any Asgardian a formidable opponent. Thor, however, has a dramatic advantage over other Asgardians: his lineage. His father is Odin, the All-Father of the Norse Gods and one of the most powerful forces in the Universe. His mother is Gaea, the Earth goddess, an Elder god of Earth. The combination of these two powerful bloodlines potentially makes him more powerful than either. With his innate invulnerability, Thor has survived near-ground-zero nuclear blasts with no noticeable damage.

4. Warrior's madness

Thor, as with all Asgardian warriors, can undergo a change in personality known as "Warriors Madness". In this state, Thor's strength is supposedly increased ten-fold (wow!), making him virtually unstoppable. The downside to this change is that he loses control of his better judgement and becomes a danger to any allies around him. Thor's control over this change has been sporadic; he was able to do so against the Maestro, but was unable to do so against Onslaught.

5. Indomitable spirit

This is one of the most compelling qualities about the god of thunder. He literally refuses to quit even in the face of impossible odds and invincible opponents. This "never say die" attitude can often create doubts in the minds of his opponents, forcing them to eventually retreat or make costly mistakes. An excellent example of this is when Thor decided to fight a Celestial to protect a planet from destruction. Even though he was incredibly outmatched, he actually offered the Celestial a chance to surrender before beginning the battle.

6. Mjolnir as weapon

As a battle weapon alone, Mjolnir is a formidable force. Forged from the indestructible element uru, the hammer has two enchantments that are particularly useful. The first causes Mjolnir to always return to Thor's hand after being thrown. Or corollary to this is that Thor can "call" the hammer to him. The second is the famous "worthiness" enchantment, which prevents anyone but Thor from wielding the hammer. Of course, the vague wording of this enchantment has allowed a few others to lift the hammer is specific situations. The hammer has other powers which will be listed separately.

7. Control over weather (Mjolnir)

Thor is the god of thunder and storms and has complete control over all forms of weather. He can create raging electrical storms complete with thunder, lightning, hurricane-force winds, tornadoes and torrential rains. He can also create any of these phenomena individually. Another aspect of this power allows him to stop any of these weather conditions as well. The powers are shown as being channeled through Mjolnir. Also, Thor cannot be injured by lightning or any other weather-related effects.

To illustrate the extent of this control, Thor's power of weather can be compared to Storm's, a mutant imbued with weather controlling powers. Although very powerful, Storm can only manipulate existing weather conditions to achieve the desired effect. Creating a thunderstorm in a desert would take much longer than normal. Thor, on the other hand, creates weather conditions as a result of his godhood. Creating a thunderstorm in a desert requires no more effort than normal. While Storm can manipulate weather, Thor can just as easily undo her manipulations with little effort. In Marvel vs. DC, Thor defeated Captain Marvel by simply withholding the lightning that allowed him to transform from Billy Batson into the superhero.

8. Flight (Mjolnir)

Thor can fly using Mjolnir. This is typically accomplished by throwing Mjolnir and holding onto its strap. Once airborne, however, Thor is able to maneuver and change direction. This travel can be done at an incredible velocity; Thor has been shown overtaking spaceships that were travelling at near light-speed. After throwing Mjolnir, Thor can remain airborne until the hammer returns to his hand. There is obviously a lot more control here than Thor just hanging on for the ride, but it has never really been explored beyond this.

9. Mystic energy blast (Mjolnir)

Thor is able to project powerful mystic energy blasts from his hammer. This tactic is typically only used against opponents that also use energy-based attacks. Similarly, Thor can fire lightning bolts directly from Mjolnir. When this is done, the power of the lightning is magnified greatly.

10. Interdimensional travel (Mjolnir)

Traveling to different dimensions (including Asgard) is possible through the use of Mjolnir. This can take three forms: Thor can transport himself and those near him to a desired destination, Thor can throw Mjolnir around a target and warp it to the desired location, or Thor can open a dimensional portal through which anyone can travel through (usually a surprised, onrushing enemy)

A special situation allows Thor to easily travel to Asgard from Earth. Creating a rainstorm and dissipating it forms a rainbow; this opens an interdimensional gateway to Asgard via Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge.

Infrequently used powers and abilities

These powers are not normally used by Thor except in unusual circumstances. Some of them have very specific uses and don't apply to most situations. Others are incredibly powerful and are used only as a last resort.

1. Godly essence blast (Mjolnir)

For those really tough villains, Thor is able to channel his godly essence through Mjolnir for a truly monumental attack. This has been used very rarely, as it can weaken Thor considerably. He has used this to kill Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent, to actually drive back the "unstoppable" Juggernaut, and to actually pierce the armor of a Celestial.

2. Absorb and redirect energy (Mjolnir)

Mjolnir is able to absorb and redirect tremendous amounts of various forms of energy. When redirecting energy, Thor has shown the ability to exert some control over it. Some noteworthy examples of absorption include absorbing Magneto's force field, rendering his vulnerable to physical attacks. Mjolnir has also shown the ability to attract and absorb Power Cosmic blasts from the Silver Surfer, removing a significant attack from his arsenal. Another example involved drawing the magnetic energy from a planet and redirecting it into a attack against a Celestial. Only the last example took any additional time or concentration to perform.

3. Advanced medical knowledge

When Thor was using the Don Blake alter-ego on Earth, he acquired a lot of knowledge and experience regarding medicine and the human anatomy. This has been valuable in many post-combat situations.

4. Belt and gauntlets of strength

These are magical items worn by Thor in his childhood to augment his strength. They are still useful; when worn, they double Thor's strength. With the magical aid of Loki, Red Norvell was able to lift Mjolnir while wearing the belt and gauntlets.

5. Battle armor

When Thor was cursed with brittle bones by Hela, he forged a set of armor that allowed him to fight while in his weakened condition. The extent of additional protection his armor provides is unknown, but an armored Thor was able to slay the Midgard Serpent despite Hela's curse.

6. Flying chariot

When not using Mjolnir to fly, Thor can call upon his chariot drawn by two flying goats.

7. Resistance to mind-based attacks

Although there have been few telepathic attacks against Thor, he apparently has a high degree of resistance -- a Karma Blast from Warlock's Soul Gem had no effect on him. Thor has also shown resistance to the Infinity Mind Gem. Whether this is a trait shared by all Asgardians or Thor alone is unknown.

8. Nullifying vortex (Mjolnir)

Thor is able to use Mjolnir to create a vortex around himself and others, if desired. This vortex has been shown take on many properties. It has acted as an anti-magic shield against the Juggernaut, disconnecting his link to the Gem of Cyttorak. It has been used to absorb the Power Cosmic against the Firelord. The vortex can be used as a virtually unbreachable wall, which was useful against an enraged Hulk while Thor wanted to consult with Odin. A vortex has also been created to stop the passage of time within the vortex relative to the world outside. This allowed Thor to finish a battle against the Cobra and Mr. Hyde while delaying death in the mortally wounded Jane Foster.

9. Detect energy sources (Mjolnir)

Thor can use Mjolnir to find sources of energy or magic. This has been used to find track down, among others, Magneto and the magic Norn Stones.

10. Long distance vision

Thor has the ability to see things at a much greater distance than normal. THis was useful when he and Thunderstrike were on the Empire State Building, looking across New York in search of the Destroyer.

Forgotten Powers

These are powers and abilities that have been used only once or have not been used in a very long time. For the non-believers out there, I have included an example of each of these abilities being used.

1. Shoot lightning from his hands

In his early superhero days, Thor frequently fired lightning from his hands when he was separated from Mjolnir. This is a strong indication that his powers, at least for weather control, are innate and do not require Mjolnir.

2. Hurricane-force breath

Wow! With his awesome set of lungs, the early Thor used this tactic to get out of sticky situations.

3. Danger sense (Mjolnir)

When carrying Mjolnir, Thor was able to detect when danger was near. Those cool little "spider-sense" lines were drawn as well, except they appropriately looked like little lightning bolts.

4. Create blinding light (Mjolnir)

By rubbing his hands against the head of Mjolnir, Thor could create enough friction that the resulting sparks would blind anyone nearby.

5. Ventriloquism

Using his highly developed vocal chords, Thor could make a voice seem to come from a different direction.

6. Guided hammer (Mjolnir)

Thor could command Mjolnir to chase or seek out a particular foe, driving him out of hiding.

7. Create anti-matter atoms (Mjolnir)

By spinning his hammer rapidly, Thor could create anti-matter particles to be used however anti-matter particles should be used.

Lost powers

These are powers that Thor had at an earlier time, but he has since lost them.

1. Time travel (Mjolnir)

Mjolnir originally had the ability to transport Thor to a different time, but this power has since been removed.

2. Transform into Don Blake (Mjolnir)

When Thor was maintaining a second identity as Don Blake, he could use his hammer to change back and forth between the two identities. Now that he no longer uses the Blake identity, this enchantment was removed from Mjolnir by Odin.