|
This article, Hela Odinsdottir (Earth-61615), is property of MarvelousMarty. |
Buri (great grandfather; deceased),
Bor Burison (grandfather; deceased),
Odin Borson (father; deceased),
Angerboda (mother; deceased), Freyja Freyrsdottir (step-mother),
Ve Borson (uncle; deceased),
Vili Borson (uncle; deceased),
Cul Borson (uncle; deceased),
Aldrif Odinsdottir (half-sister),
Thor Odinson (half-brother),
Balder Odinson (half-brother),
Loki Laufeyson (adoptive brother);
Thanos (ex-lover);
Fenris (pet & war wolf; deceased);
Garm (pet & guardian wolf);
Mangog (co-creation; deceased)
Thor Vol 2 25
Thor Vol 3 30
History
I'm the Goddess of Death. I've been the Queen of Hel eons longer than your speck of an existence. I helped our dear, hypocritical father build the empire of Asgard in pools of blood and gold so that our people can prosper in power and privilege. So tell me again, brother. What have you done to preserve the glory of our home? What are you the god of?
- — Hela
- — Hela
Early Years
Hela Odinsdottir was the firstborn of then Asgardian prince and warrior, Odin Borson, and the Niffleheim-born Jotunn warrior-sorceress Angerboda. Hela was conceived as a result of the brief affair between the two warriors during the Great Asgardian-Vanir War, making a secret pact which hoped that their child would somehow outlive the war as a seed of new beginning, should the brutal conflict and restless hostility from both sides end not on a tranquil note and both the home and empire they've been fighting for end up destroying each other in the process as a worst case scenario.
Before their child was born, the pair's shared desperation for ending their people's war has led to the creation of an entity that was hardwired to end both Asgard and Vanir by consuming the negative souls of living things on sight—especially rage—and becoming stronger from it. Unfortunately, the conflict only grew stronger, and their extreme pact was eventually denounced by Odin when Hela was born to Angerboda in the waning days of the conflict, a great conflict that was rooted and changed due to the significant participation of royal Vanir witch, Freyja Freyrsdottir, a prominent figure during the war, who was willing to help the people of Asgard in a more diplomatic way by voluntary representing herself as an emissary of Vanir as a means to end the centuries-long war between both people on her own peaceful terms that would cool down the tension between her people and the Asgardians.
However, Angerboda's loyalist dogma and isolationist notions as well as her growing ego had only gotten to the worst of her overtime, rendering her own people to wage war against Asgard itself, deluded into framing that its rulers have enslaved Freyja in order to cultivate Asgard's resources from a state of famine into fruition. Not to mention the fact that Freyja and Odin have fallen in love with each other, striking a jealousy into Angerboda's heart which she wouldn't help but deny the first time. Similar to how Freyja used it to save most of Asgard from famine, Angerboda utilized the darkest of magic albeit fully succumbing into her rage in an attempt to bring down the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf with the nascent entity she and Odin had originally planned to create. That was until Angerboda had to battle the formidable Einherjar and Odin himself before she was reluctantly killed in the final moments of the war by the now All-Mother Freyja in order to protect her newfound people and her beloved, who couldn't bear to slay his former lover.
Stricken with guilt over Angerboda's demise, the Asgardian monarchs decided to adopt Hela, who was only a toddler then, as their own when Freyja and Odin have decided to marry out of their growing love and affection, realizing that their connection would mutually strengthen the unity between their respective people since the peace treaty has ended the war. Hela's loyal companion Fenris, an Asgardian Wolf, was also taken in as a part of the Royal Family and was trained alongside her when Odin began to teach a young Hela the ways of becoming a warrior.
However, it was the unity of Asgard and Vanaheim that made both more enemies in the following centuries. After the warriors of Jotunheim had found out that Angerboda was killed at the hands of Odin, the Frost Giants would become one of the greatest adversaries Asgard has ever faced. Odin trained his only daughter Hela on how to defend and fend for herself, and much to Odin's surprise, Hela surpassed all his expectations as her path into becoming a fearsome and formidable warrior was sealed by her enthusiasm (and inner bloodlust) to slay the enemies of her new home.
As Hela was willing to learn how to channel magic through the teachings of Freyja, the former learned that being an Odinborn and the daughter of a powerful witch had granted her a supernatural connection to Asgard itself, increasing her ability to conjure structures and weaponry as well as amplify her godly Asgardian physique in the same way as her father. It was not long after that Hela and Odin embarked on a bloody conquest starting with Jotunheim, bringing the rest of the Nine Realms into Asgard's power as the fearsome Hela would become Odin's second-in-command and his special Executioner to the royal guard.
Hunger and Exile to Hell
Hela's ambitions exceeded the realms of the Yggdrasil, however, and she began plotting a wider and bloodier conquest of other worlds beyond the World Tree, which she tried to target the former Tenth realm of Olympus first. By this time, Odin had realized that peace was a better way to maintain order than constant war which was by Freyja's wisdom and his love for her, and had ended his expansionary campaigns when he was struck with the realization that his and Hela's actions and demeanor were starting to resemble the same figures who tried to conquer Asgard in the olden days, including the latter's late mother, Angerboda.
Hela would even as go as far in attacking her own step-mother Freyja once the former had figured out her true lineage, embracing her savageness, and the truth behind her real mother's death. Channeling enough supernatural energy through magic, Hela eventually attempted to take the throne by force for herself in a violent coup at the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf. Odin was able to subdue her with the help of the young warrior Heimdall, the Valkyries, as well as Freyja herself in spite of her reluctance to hurt her, banishing her to the desolate wastes of Hel in the realm of Niffleheim, condemned to rule an eternity alone.
Ruling from the Shadows
Queen of the Dead
On Niffleheim, Hela continuously practiced and harnessed dark magic which included her capability of astral projection, a feat that would allow her to meet various divine demonic entities such as Mephisto, Chthon, and Dormammu. Together, they would form the council of Hell Lords in Hades. They have decided to merge their respective realms, thus increasing their power, and to begin taking in new souls from their respective neighboring realms. While Hela couldn't completely escape Hel or Niffleheim due to Odin's lasting binding spells still taking effect as a part of her exile nor any of her fellow powerful archdemons could remove the bindings from her, Hela was able to possess the bodies of the living with her heightened magical enchantments and make them do her bidding within a limited duration.
During her first few days stuck in Hel, even Hela used to fear the undead, believing it, but her exposure to the souls of the damned and departed made her realize that an untapped, inherent power within her was starting to take effect in this realm of the dead and such a fraction of her power was blocked by Odin from the fear that she would end up harnessing it at her worst as she became more bloodthirsty conqueror than him. In no time, Hela would learn of her true origins as the daughter of Angerboda after meeting her soul on one of Hel's deepest caverns, the Gnipa Cave. Through her mother's memories, she realized that her great attempt of escaping Niffleheim was the first time she tapped into her power over the dead after slaying most of the Valkyries. Odin could only lock her in Hel so that while her necromantic powers were slowly growing, she couldn't use them as long as her father's binding spell is intact in his life-force. Despite this conundrum, Hela managed to conquer the realm of the dead as she harnessed her magic to enslave most of the souls that ended up in Hel as her servants and soldiers, as well as taming the Asgardian hellhound by the name of Garm, which bore similarities to her late pet, Fenris. Not only were Angerboda and her maternal ancestors the very souls Hela had communicated with and gained various knowledge from, but also countless more souls whom her Asgardian ancestors have wronged and battled in the past hundred millennia of war and rivalry.
Under the mortal guise of a young adult woman by the name of Leah, Hela would begin her quest for freedom on the world of mortals and began meeting low-level magic wielders and later deceiving or "guiding" individuals who found themselves lost in life. Such an encounter made her establish a lasting rivalry and even an incidental alliance with a mischievous and cunning sorcerer whom she would later find out to be her father's adopted son: Loki. It was during these encounters that Hela was able to slowly catch up on the current affairs back in Asgard, which motivated her with seeking to return to her home and in her words, "bring it back in its rightful glory."
Tempting the Mad Titan
Hela and Thanos partnered up as fearsome bringers of death, believing that their interests were aligned
Some of her most significant adventures or misadventures outside the Hell Lords included her alliance with the Mad Titan Thanos as she was able to seduce him with her power over death and convince him to join forces with her and help free her from her exile. It was only a couple of years since Thanos was able to decimate half the universe with the Infinity Stones due to his obsession with balance of all life as the justification of his desire for death, and although his efforts were reversed by his heroic nemeses, the tale made Hela become more and more fond of the Titan as he was also attracted to her power over death. Hela even demonstrated her power by killing and resurrecting most of the Black Order, solidifying their partnership and intimate relationship as bloodthirsty conquerors from Hel and Black Quadrant.
After the two had joined forces so they could rule the cosmos as agents of death and chaos, Hela ended up leading Thanos and their allies as they went to steal mystical artifacts that could potentially hasten Hela's exile on Hel and become a whole goddess once again, vengeful on her father and the very empire she had helped built for centuries. Unfortunately, Hela had underestimated their final adversary in the form of the Champion of Korbin, Beta Ray Bill. When Hela and Thanos beat Bill and attempted to claim his mystical hammer Stormbreaker after learning of his unworthiness, the presence of the Mad Titan only restored Bill's worthiness over the hammer after realizing that Thanos' massacre of his people years ago were not entirely Bill's fault for failing to stop him in time. Bill defeated Hela and Thanos to the point that the latter was killed by Stormbreaker's cosmic blast, although Hela was able to resurrect him in no time.
Unfortunately, what Hela did to Thanos was the trigger of her own undoing since for a few days, Hela reanimated his corpse without his soul so she could make it her powerful enforcer during her killing sprees and with her followers, replicate his powers onto her new planned avatar. Eventually, Thanos was able to attain his indomitable will and return to his body, igniting a battle between him and Hela's cult of sorcerers hellbent on freeing her. Victorious over Hela's followers, Thanos obliterated her most fully developed corporeal avatar out of rage before she could completely transfer her consciousness into it, disrupting Hela's plan and in his bitterness for not allowing him to die in peace and for using his body, the Mad Titan finally broke off their partnership and kicked her out of the Black Quadrant out of rage.
While she was devastated and disappointed by the reception of her former lover, Hela had nevertheless accumulated more than enough damned and departed souls from the high body count of the Mad Titan as the governor of the Quadrant for the past few years in her next plan to accelerate her exile, thanks to the final sacrifice of her cult, whose allegiance always lied on their deathly divine. Thanks to Thanos, Hela had enough souls to amplify her astral projection and set her plans of returning to Asgard in motion.
Return for Hel's Retribution
Throughout the years of her attempt to escape her imprisonment on Hel, Hela was able to collect legions of souls which she accumulated through the numerous acts of violence, murders, and conquests committed by her thousands of targets and followers across the neighboring civilizations that could reach Niffleheim from a few hundred light years, the planet and one of the Nine Realms where Hel is located. Conjuring the souls with the help of her fellow Hell Lords, Hela was able to influence her cult of followers more, from disillusioned seers of the Norns to lone necromancers who were seeking a purpose, until she was powerful enough to let them track her location and free her from Hel by summoning a portal or bringing any spacecraft that could finally help her escape and return to her homeworld with a vengeance.
As Hela had promised the Hell Lords their own share of her domain once she conquers and governs the Nine Realms under her rule, her fellow leading archdemons each channeled a portion of their powers to the Goddess of Death once she has finally restored her corporeal body and escaped Hel with her faithful cult. Through more than trillions of souls that Hela have stored in her kingdom in Hel, the Queen of the Dead continued to finish what her father had intended during the final years of the Great Asgardian-Vanir War, although it was something that his present self have sworn to never create having understood the errors of his ways as a conqueror who never appreciated life until he has met All-Mother Freyja.
Remembering the great monster her father had created with her mother Angerboda in her youth only to destroy it later on after ending his conquest, Hela discovered its scattered remains on the caverns of Niffleheim. There, Hela reassembled and resurrected the creature with dark magic by continuously nourishing it with souls and spirits that are fueled with strong negative emotions, most especially hatred, including her own. It was during this moment that the legendary demonic monster known as Mangog was reborn by the Asgardian Goddess of Death and Queen of the Dead's flaming abhorrence towards those who had wronged her all her life.
Finding the Lost Links
Having grown closer with her plan to free herself from Hel without Odin's enchantment, Hela began to amass her newfound allies aside from her loyal followers, most especially beings that matches her interest and hatred towards her father, half-brother, and their allies across the Nine Realms. The Lord of the Dark Elves, Malekith, was the first archnemesis that Hela had freed and offered her alliance to in retaliation against Thor for bringing down his empire during the last Convergence. Lorelei and Loki were Hela's second and third recruits as she has collaborated with them under her guise as Leah and has remained impressed by the two's mastery of various sorcery. The final recruit was Odin's lost brother and her forgotten uncle, Cul Borson, whom Hela had discovered while learning about the lost history of Asgard and reminding herself of her father's hypocrisies in order to keep Asgard in power. Exiled in a dangerous serpent form which witnesses have called the Nidhogg, Hela freed Cul from his eons of restraint and recruited him into her group, pledging to help him exact his revenge on Odin.
Hela have also discovered the existence of her lost half-siblings aside from Thor: the Heven-based warrior Aldrif and the Vanir blacksmith Balder, although Hela decided not to meddle with them in their normal lives just so she could make a point that she doesn't impose ambitions onto others against their will, like her father did to her. However, Loki himself would eventually decide to back out from the alliance not only from his worry that he couldn't rise up against her if he joined her but also out of his lingering concern towards his brother and the people of Asgard. Regardless of the trickster god's escape, Hela was able to find a newfound ally in the form of Lord Ymir, the ancient ruler of the Frost Giants in Niffleheim whom Hela had convinced alongside a large faction of the Jotunn Giants to find a new home for his race aside from the dying Jotunheim as long as Asgard remains in power under her rule. Hela considered allying herself with Surtur as her second enforcer, only to find herself disappointed after seeing how the ruling Fire Giant was drained of his cosmic power by Odin and Beta Ray Bill while trying to restore his power in his realm. Overall, the great anguish and spite that Hela and her group had towards their adversaries at Asgard and the rest of the Nine Realms were actively fueling Mangog as the nigh-unstoppable behemoth would serve as Hela's greatest enforcer in her impending assault.
Struggle for Asgard's Fate
After finally escaping Hel and plotting the assassination of her father, Hela ruled Asgard as its fearsome queen, only to be challenged by her younger half-brother, Thor
The infamous doomsday event in Asgardian culture that prophesied the destruction of Asgard and the end of the Asgardian Empire, has unknowingly started to be set on motion from an unexpected direction as it began with the untimely demise of the All-Father Odin at the hands of his own spiteful brother, Cul, as he had successfully done in part of his alliance with Hela and Malekith after her escape from Hel. However, it turned out that Hela was still wary of Cul's ulterior motives and only needed him to remove Odin's enchantment on her by mortally wounding him, and once her uncle had done his main objective, Hela didn't hesitate to kill him before he could get the chance retaliate in his Nidhogg form.
Returning to her former home in the flesh after countless millennia, Hela and her diabolical society took over Asgard in late 2023 and planned to create an Asgardian Empire in her own image, followed by an all-out conquest to rule beyond the Nine Realms, including the former Tenth Realm, Heven, and Olympus. When the loyal people of Asgard refused to bow to her newly established rulership, Hela massacred most of Odin's armies and enslaved its people. Along with it, Hela increased her soldiers after using the Eternal Flame from Odin's Vault to reanimate her late mount, Fenris, and the corpses of fallen Einherjar as additions to the Draugr, her undead army group which originated from Hel. However, Hela's adversaries would also discover the truth of how the cosmic and mystical powers she had gained from Hel and as a member of the Hell Lords combined with her bloody conquest was deeply damaging every lifeform across Yggdrasil, the World Tree. As her power as the Goddess of Death was growing, the Norns, particularly Karnilla, felt Hela's disturbance and Mangog's unrivaled amalgamation of hatred and informed the likes of Thor and other righteous figures that her ongoing conquest was slowly causing chaos, death, and destruction to spread across the cosmos as vulnerable beings were slowly being corrupted by her influence.
While Hela initially scoffed of the possibility that Ragnarök could come into fruition, believing that she would rather keep the realms in order and peace under her reign, she became more wary due to their strength in numbers and secretly sent her spies to investigate what Thor and his allies were planning while she was at the throne. In the end of the war between Hela and her brothers, Thor's alliance had no other choice but to cause Ragnarök ultimately instead of preventing it after convincing the Supreme Fire Giant Surtur to bring about the prophecy as he was meant to do, which they were able to after powering him up with the Eternal Flame. The heroic faction's plans were their only means of saving the rest of the realms from Hela's destructive conquest by sacrificing the planetary realm of Asgard and prevent the World Tree Yggdrasil from collapsing entirely and consequently shattering it throughout the deepest, unknown regions of the boundless cosmos. The tides of her reign slowly weighed into Thor's favor after realizing that her allies were either slayed or defeated, most notably when her situational ally, the Great Frost Giant Ymir, would find himself chasing down his old rival, the Fire Demon Surtur, who became allies with Thor in their reluctant but necessary consideration to let him fulfill Ragnarök so that Hela's great threat across the universe would be stopped.
Hela fought Thor and his ally of named warriors, although it would turn out to be a ruse as Loki and Amora would secretly take the dying Surtur into Odin's Vault and as they enchanted his crown into the Eternal Flame. With Surtur revived and restored to his cosmically destructive status, the Supreme Fire Demon was no longer fueled by hatred towards the Asgardians who stripped him of his power, but by his newfound appreciation for life and goal to protect the rest of the realms from Hela's bloody conquest and its life, including his estranged family. Although she made a desperate attempt to stop him, both Hela was killed when Surtur destroyed Asgard as he defeated Ymir, causing a Great Flood across Asgard and slowing down the Goddess of Death long enough for Surtur to plunge down his Twilight Sword into the core of the planet, fulfilling Ragnarök as Asgard implodes into oblivion, but not before the band of heroes were able to evacuate the survivors and themselves to safety. During the implosion of Asgard, the once invulnerable Mangog had also met their end, as their reliance of sin and hatred among living souls had also proven to be its greatest weakness when there were no souls on the surface of Asgard for them to absorb as a source of power and sustenance.
An Eternity to Reflect On
As her conquest to rule the cosmos beyond the Nine Realms died with her during Ragnarök, Hela's spirit subsequently found herself in the Asgardian afterlife of Valhalla, where Odin himself greeted his first-born daughter outside its gates. While her hatred towards her father was not as strong as when she was alive, Hela was surging with conflicting emotions and countless questions that were almost instantly answered. Among her questions were how she didn't respawn on Hel, where she was the strongest when she wasn't on Asgard, but Hela learned that her while it was true that she was the Queen of Hel and the Asgardian Goddess of Death for most of her life, her life-force is still tied to Asgard as she was raised there and developed her main powers since her youth until her passing at the hands of Ragnarök. While her evil actions were unforgivable in the land of the living, Hela's glorious death in battle and her subconscious goal to protect Asgard, albeit radically, made Odin transport her spirit Valhalla so he could offer her a place among the late Asgardians and other fallen beings worthy of residing in their paradise for all eternity.
Hela refused to enter Valhalla not only out of her resentment towards Odin but also by her concealed fear and shame of meeting the victims she had slayed in her slaughters when she entertained the thought of entering Valhalla for a moment. Odin understood how his daughter felt as he expressed his regret towards her without asking for her forgiveness, knowing that a lot of things he had imposed on her all her life were unforgiveable. Traversing the afterlife across the Ten Realms as a lost and wandering spirit, Hela was able to cross to Hel and Niffleheim, discovering that she could no longer feel or accumulate any power as she arrived at the afterlife for the souls of the damned or dishonored. However, she had a better understanding of the realms she was ruling for eons, seeing how for other souls and spirits seeking redemption and repentance, it is a form of purgatory that could still get them to a better afterworld like Valhalla. As she stayed on Niffleheim and began consoling and reconciling with the very souls she used to take advantage of, Hela began to reflect on herself.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Supernatural Asgardian-Jotunn Physiology: Hela possesses the conventional superhuman abilities of an Asgardian woman, as well as certain special abilities that pertain to her role as a goddess of death. As someone who was knowledgeable in the arcane yet dangerous magic across the sorcerers of the Nine Realms, Hela is capable of manipulating great quantities of Asgardian magic for numerous purposes, such as limitless astral projection, firing deadly bolts of energy from her hands that could kill an immortal, levitation, time-travel and the creation of illusions. As Odin's firstborn, Hela had a supernatural connection to Asgard and drew power from it, enabling her to perform incredible supernatural feats. Hela could manifest various physical structures out of thin air, ranging from weapons, to rock formations, to her own armor. As the firstborn of Odin and a powerful warrior whose powers were bestowed to her by the All-Father, Hela has a supernatural connection to the realm of Asgard like the rest of her siblings and can draw power from Asgard itself to further enhance her power, although her connection also resided in the realm of the dead, Niffleheim, where Hela began to grow powerful thanks to her mother's magical essence passing down to her. Unfortunately, Hela can't use both powers from different realms at the same time for a long time and the longer Hela stays in one realm, the more she'll lose her connection on the other and will need an external source such as the creature Mangog, the Eternal Flame, and her enchanted Helmet to enhance her magical connection.
- Life-Force
- Superhuman Strength
- Godlike Invulnerability
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Senses
- Healing Factor
- Longevity
- Self Sustenance
- Geokinesis
- Magic Manipulation
- Weapon Manifestation
- Structure Manifestation
- Armor Manifestation
- Astral Projection
- Control Over Life and Death
- Necromancy
- Soul and Spirit Magic
- Violence Manipulation
- Emotion Manipulation
- All-Tongue
| Power Grid [1] | |||||
| Intelligence* |
|
||||
| Strength |
|
||||
| Speed* |
|
||||
| Durability |
|
||||
| Energy Projection* |
|
||||
| Fighting Skills |
|
||||
| * Heightened stats when empowered; intelligence increases when reading or absorbing knowledge and memories of others' souls | |||||
Abilities
- Acrobatics
- Occult Knowledge
- Indomitable Will
- Expert Combatant
- Sword Mastery
- Hammer Mastery
- Master Sorcerer
- Allspeak
- Expert Tactician
- Talented Public Speaker
Strength level
Class 100+
Weaknesses
- Asgard's Destruction
- Warriors' Madness
Paraphernalia
Equipment:
- Hela's Helmet (formerly; reabsorbed into the Odinforce)
Transportation:
- Bifrost Bridge
Weapons:
- Conjured Weapons (formerly; destroyed)
- Nightsword
- Necroswords
- Necrospears
- The Asgardian Warhammer, Mjolnir (formerly)
Notes
- No special notes.
- ↑ Modern Comics: Thor Vol 3 15
Trivia
- As one of the powerful beings exiled by the Asgardians for their great hunger for power and conquest, Hela was considered one of the top contenders to cause Ragnarök right after she killed her uncle, Cul Borson, another catalyst for Asgard's prophesied apocalypse when he infiltrated Asgard and assassinated his brother, All-Father Odin, in collaboration with her plans to take the throne.
- However, it was her act of killing Cul that made her adversaries realize that she was preventing Ragnarök by taking over Asgard and subjugating the rest of the Nine Realms under her rule and radical image, although this process would instead cause the World Tree Yggdrasil to collapse as her power over Asgard grows over time, prompting Thor and Loki to realize that to save the rest of the cosmos, Ragnarök had to be fulfilled.
- Hela resurrected and enhanced Mangog into a far more unstoppable demonic entity than Odin had intended during the Asgardian-Vanir War as an evolving creature that feeds on hatred and strong negativity of living beings. However, such a power has also proven to be the monster's fatal flaw since, while they are a destroyer of worlds, they will slowly weaken and die without any lifeform to feed on to sustain themselves.
- Hela made her step-siblings realize and accept the fact that their father Odin was never the purest ruler of Asgard due to his centuries of conquest in the name of their home. However, unlike most of her siblings who grew up understanding the flaws of their father and the steps he took to be a better leader, Hela never forgave Odin as her bitter hatred towards him grew in exile and eventually allowed her to help her uncle Cul slay him thanks to their shared hatred towards him.
See Also
- Appearances of Hela Odinsdottir (Earth-61615)
- Character Gallery: Hela Odinsdottir (Earth-61615)
- Quotations by Hela Odinsdottir (Earth-61615)
Discover and Discuss
- Search News for: Hela Odinsdottir · Hela Odinsdottir (Earth-61615)
Links and References
- None.