Thor is one of the most powerful Marvel heroes. In his nearly sixty years of being published, he has accumulated quite a rogues gallery. Some of those villains are more interesting than others. And some are even more interesting than Thor himself. At least, their powers are.
Of course, a firm majority of Thor's villains essentially are big and strong. The Wrecking Crew, Skurge the Executioner, Ulik the Troll, and so many others are monsters with enough power to batter a foe into submission. Essentially, Thor has to do little more to defeat the threat than to physically beat them with the aid of mjolnir. However, there are those whose powers make them much more interesting as enemies for the mighty Thor.
9 Immortus Actually Took Time Travel Powers Away From Mjolnir
Immortus has ridden the fine line between ally and villain. Overall, his motives are more at odds with Thor's mission to protect Midgard. His biggest effect on the God of Thunder was removing his hammer's ability to traverse time.
In Thor #282, by Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and Keith Pollard, the Avenger sacrificed Mjolnir's temporal abilities to shift the planet Phantus from limbo. While it appears that Immortus is not malicious, later stories have retconned this. Immortus tricked Thor into voluntarily giving up his time travel ability.
8 Quicksand May Have The Same Powers As Sandman, But She Uses Them Differently
On the surface, Quicksand doesn't seem very original. She has a body composed entirely of sand and a lot of her power derives from her being hard to contain. She turns parts of herself as hard as concrete and is capable of overpowering most foes.
However, one thing she does differently from the better-known Sandman is using her powers to create a torrential sandstorm. Against a normal human foe, she could probably flay the flesh from bone in minutes, perhaps seconds. She was smart enough when she first fought Thor to go for his eyes, temporarily taking away his ability to see, giving her a slight advantage.
7 Zarrko the Tomorrow Man Is A Time Traveller That's Basically Kang
Zarrko is generally a less impressive version of Kang the Conqueror. He appeared about a year before Kang, but rather than be forgotten as a template for the more impressive villain, Zarrko kept returning to plague Thor. Without any natural powers, he seems like an odd choice.
But time travel is an amazing power to have, whether it comes from natural powers or machinery. Someone as intelligent as Zarrko can properly use the power to his advantage. He's even made weapons that can use time travel against opponents.
6 The Grey Gargoyle Often Uses His Ability To Transform Things To Stone Cleverly
The Grey Gargoyle is one of Thor's few villains without his origins in Asgard or Asgardian magic. He gained his ability to transform things into stone for an hour through a mishap with chemicals. He uses that power on himself to gain superhuman strength and durability, but when it's used on objects, it can have devastating results.
When battling the Avengers, he turned a cloth awning to stone. Unable to hold itself up, it collapsed on Wasp, Beast, and Captain America, trapping them under the debris. He was even able to survive being stranded in space by turning debris and cosmic particles to stone around him until he could return to Earth.
5 Ego, the Living Planet Is A Sentient Planet
One of Jack Kirby's most outrageously original creations came in the form of a living planet. Ego. Originally Ego sought to conquer other planets using creations that he called "anti-bodies." Upon defeat, he swore to remain isolated. Unfortunately, Galactus had plans to consume Ego. Thor aided him, and it seemed like the living planet had mellowed.
Ego went insane and Thor helped Galactus put a massive engine on Ego. Ego controlled the engine and threatened Earth, only to be driven away by the Fantastic Four. The ways he manipulates his form and surface are always unique in a way that a living planet created by Jack Kirby can.
4 Enchantress Has Very Specialized Magic
Amora the Enchantress is one of Thor's Asgardian villains that are unique to the comics. She's an Asgardian sorceress capable of using magic for a variety of effects. The one she keeps coming back to is making people, usually, men, fall in love with her.
It's this reliance on an area of specialty that gets her outclassed by other Asgardians, especially Loki. She's also had a habit of finding opponents that outclass her like Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange. She's even allowed her vanity to find her on the losing end of a rivalry with Dazzler.
3 Absorbing Man Changes To Take On The Properties of Whatever He Touches
Crusher Creel got his powers from Loki to create an opponent to humble Thor. In the process of creating the Absorbing Man, Loki created a very impressive villain that has only become more well-rounded over the years. His power to absorb the properties of whatever he touches have proven formidable and interesting.
Being based on magic rather than science allows the Absorbing Man for some unique results for his powers. He's grown in size from touching a skyscraper, after touching a mace, grown spikes, and duplicated the powers of an object like Thor's hammer. It's made for rather weird effects from time to time, and completely awe-inspiring at other times.
2 Surtur Is A Massive Fire Giant With A Flaming Sword
The Fire Giant Surtur seems like a huge, powerful monster that Thor can take on with brute force. His powers also involve the great power of an eternally burning flame. He often manifests this power through his sword, with it even sometimes being rendered as if made entirely of fire.
He's also the driving force behind Ragnarok, the recurring cycle of destruction for Asgard. In a classic storyline by Walt Simonson, Surtur was a magnificently threatening antagonist. There were multiple iconic moments for Surtur. There were times also that the threat of Surtur had Thor seem like a supporting role in his own book as the forces of Asgard, heroes and villains alike rallied to her defense.
1 Loki's Clever Use Of Illusions Adds To His Role As The God Of Mischief
It should come as no surprise that Thor's most popular foe has become the protagonist of his own stories. Loki has fans drawn mainly from the fantastic portrayal by Tom Hiddleston. In the comics, Loki blends his illusions with carefully woven lies and deceit.
Loki doesn't limit his magic to illusions, though. His spells have trapped Thor as a Frog, and he has granted powers to criminals to battle Thor. He's directly responsible for the creation of the Absorbing Man and the Wrecking Crew. Loki's not just the most impressive of Thor's villains, he's also the one that defines the hero.
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