Who Is Valkyrie, The Warrior Goddess From Thor?

A familiar character from the Thor movies is Valkyrie, the female Asgardian fierce warrior who fights for justice. Her first appearance in the MCU was in Thor: Ragnarok. However, Valkyrie’s origin can be traced back years ago, although not from the same perspective.

Valkyrie has appeared in Marvel comics in a feminist sense. Her origin goes back to the 70s, showing her as a strong, tough, fierce character, just as we have seen in the movies. The difference lies in how the writers approached her at the time.

We will see this character again in Thor: Love and Thunder. But how much involvement he will have this time around is a mystery. 

Who is Valkyrie?

Valkyrie is the survivor of a group of female warriors called the Valkyrior. They battled with magical weapons and flying horses against the enemies of Asgard. In Thor: Ragnarok, the Valkyrior was annihilated by Hela, Thor and Loki’s sister and Goddess of death, being Valkyrie, the only survivor.

Asgard would abandon her, and she would spend her life in a deserted world, where the Grandmaster would recruit her. He was Sakaar’s leader and asked her to bring him fighters to participate in his coliseum and entertain the planet’s citizens.

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There is where Valkyrie meets Hulk and Thor, recruiting both for the tournament and making an extraordinary friendship with the god of thunder at the end. In Thor: Ragnarok, we see certain sparks between the two characters, although there have been no clear romantic signs between them yet. From there, Valkyrie participates in Avengers: Endgame, when Rocket and Hulk go looking for Thor and in the final fight against Thanos.

If you are a fan of Norse mythology, they show Valkyries as female warriors of the gods. They are similar to the Valkyrie we saw in Thor: Ragnarok, except that they did not live in the same world as the gods. Their habitat was in one of the nine realms, and Odin would summon them in case of war.

Origin and biography

This character’s origin is relatively uncertain, as she has not been a regular Marvel persona and had a somewhat controversial approach. Valkyrie first appeared in the 1970s, when Roy Thomas and John Buscema introduced her in the comic book Avengers number 83.

 

This character was shown as the leader of a female group of heroines called Lady Liberators. The group was formed by the dangerous Black Widow, Medusa, The Wasp, and Valkyrie. In this issue, she is a human scientist with supernatural power and has struggled with male chauvinism for a long time. She tells her that this group of heroines will fight for gender equality. 

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That was the main reason for the character’s controversy since it catered to the women’s rights movement of the time.

Later in this issue, we find out that Valkyrie was actually “Amora the Enchantress.” This witch pretended to be Valkyrie to get closer to the Avengers, although all hell broke loose after they discovered her.

Samantha Parrington as Valkyrie

Valkyrie later appeared in the comic Incredible Hulk issue 142. In this opportunity, Amora is observing a human named Samantha Parrington. This girl is an acquaintance of the Hulk, with whom she befriends and who is in favor of female power. Samantha participates in several feminist marches, and Amora possesses her, turning her into Valkyrie. She encounters Hulk in an intense fight, and in the end, the witch leaves the young woman’s body, leaving her confused and disoriented.

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The character of Valkyrie appeared again in the comic book Incredible Hulk number 125. In this one, a character named Norris appears, who spends time in a mystical dimension and loses his mind, going into madness. 

That didn’t make sense until Defenders Vol 1 4 came out a year later. In this issue, Amora the witch combines the spirit of Norris with that of Valkyrie to sow chaos again. However, the story would reveal that Valkyrie’s spirit was the soul of an Asgardian named Brunnhilde. Now the spirit inhabited the body of Norris, who joins this team battling the duality of being both Asgardian and human.

Valkyrie / Brünhilde

The inspiration behind the character of Brünnhilde in the Marvel Universe was a classy opera singer dressed as a Viking. 

Subsequently, we have more details of this character in issues 296 to 298 of “Thor.” In these, we see how this character is the leader of the squadron of the Valkyrie warrior women. According to the story, Odin once sent his son Thor to earth as the mortal Siegmund. When he was about to die, Odin ordered Brünnhilde to bring him to Valhalla. However, they did not know that the two fell in love and that she would grant immortality and invulnerability to her beloved, as long as he did not attack anyone. Thor would die, and Odin, seeing Valkyrie’s regret, decided to return the soul of Thor to his God figure and make them both forget what happened.

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Later, Thor would return to Asgard to fulfill his duties, where he would meet the witch Amora. They would make a momentary friendship since the warrior would realize what kind of person the witch was. The latter would try to leave her, but the witch put this warrior in a state of hibernation and used the warrior’s spirit as her plaything.

Valkyrie would die in one of the sequels of “The Defenders” saga. What for many would mean her end, although we would see her later in other sagas.

Current Valkyrie

The warrior goddess would appear in animated series, such as The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. However, her participation would be secondary, almost inconsequential in this production. Now, Valkyrie resurfaced with a leading role in the films related to Thor, having a significant impact on them. 

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We can see her in Thor: Ragnarok, although it is clear that her origin in the comic and the film differ significantly. One is a fighting spirit who lost her way, and the other is a warrior who fought for female power that, in some way or another, had the manipulation of Amora, the witch.

Both versions agree that she is a very fierce and combative character. Valkyrie has an unparalleled strength that can stand up to the Hulk and Thor himself. With a firm conviction of equality and justice and who fervently fights for what she believes is right.

Powers and abilities

The powers and abilities that this character mainly possesses are super strength, capable of causing significant damage, and withstand incredible attacks, including those of Hera. Her stamina allows Valkyrie to withstand powerful blows from characters such as The Incredible Hulk, considered the strongest in terms of physical strength in the Marvel world.

In addition to her incredible strength, Valkyrie has an extraordinary ability; she can run quite fast, jumping like the Hulk. She can control the pegasus or the flying horses of Asgard to go into battle. In addition to her teamwork ability, since she has always battled in a group. 

Armament

The armament used by Valkyrie is a magical armor resistant to physical and magical attacks. In addition to a sword and shield for close combat and to repel energy ball attacks, she also has flying horses, on which she goes to the wars that Odin tells her to.  

Appearances of Valkyrie

We can find Valkyrie’s appearances in 3 sections, beginning in the 70s comics. She appeared in several comic issues related to Avengers characters such as the Hulk and the Defenders. She has also appeared on television in series such as “The Avengers: The Last Heroes of the Planet.” She also appeared in several Thor films.

In Comics

She has several comics appearances, starting in the 1970s. Valkyrie appeared in Avengers 83. In this, she plays a scientist who assembles a group of heroines who fight for gender equality. She has her super strength because she created a substance that gives her these powers.

Later she appeared in the Incredible Hulk 142, in which Amora controls an acquaintance of the Hulk and turns her into Valkyrie. Then we would see her in another issue of this comic, in the 125th. In this issue, they detail Norris, a character that would merge with Valkyrie in Defenders Vol 1 number 4.

Then we would see the character in “Thor” from numbers 296 to 298. These issues show the relationship between Valkyrie and Thor’s spirit in a human body.

To finish her participation in the comics, we have number 109 of “The Defenders.” This issue shows how Valkyrie dies.

In Television

In television, Valkyrie has appeared in animated series as a secondary character and leading role. She appears in The Super Hero Squad Show to fight Iron Man and Thor. Both fall in love with her, and even Iron man asks her out. However, Valkyrie rejects him because he fails to gather the pieces of the infinity sword.

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Another saga in which Valkyrie appeared was “The Avengers, the Last Heroes of the Planet.” When Loki takes Asgard’s control, the heroes gather an army to fight against the god of deceit and lies. She is part of this army, ending her participation with Loki’s defeat.

In theaters 

In theaters, we can see her in 3 movies; the first is Thor: Ragnarok. In this movie, we can find information about Valkyrie’s origin and her debacle before the defeat of the Valkyrie army. She had a not very honorable life until she met Thor, finding her way again and taking revenge on Hela, the Goddess of death.

Image via Marvel Studios.

Valkyrie appears in Avengers: Infinity War” at the beginning when Thanos attacks Thor’s ship. She is seen boarding the ship’s escape pods and guiding people. Later we see her in the following sequel driving people in “Asgards 2” and in the final fight against Thanos.  

Valkyrie is one of the most beloved characters in the Thor saga. Not only for her strength but for her dedication to her people, her dynamism, and her sincerity. 

Perhaps Marvel will give her a leading role in her own spin-off. She has had little participation in the last two movies; however, maybe Marvel and Disney will change that now. We know she will be in the Thor 4 to help the Norse god protect the land that has become her home and the rest of Asgard citizens.

Featured Image via Marvel Studios