Valkyrie (comics)

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This article is about the comic book character. For other uses, see Valkyrie (disambiguation).

Valkyrie
Valkyrie Art by Pablo Raimondi
Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance Avengers v1 #083 (December, 1970) Created by Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (artist)
Characteristics Alter ego Brunnhilde of Asgard Affiliations none, Odin, The Valkyrior Defenders Notable aliases Barbara Denton-Norris, Samantha Parrington, Sian Bowen Abilities Superhuman strength and durability Long lifespan Centuries of combat experience Ability to convey spirits of the dead

Valkyrie is a fictional character and Marvel Comics superheroine. An Asgardian goddess by birth, her real name is Brunnhilde. Among her other aliases are Barbara Denton-Norriss, Samantha Parrington and Sian Bowen who all were host bodies to the spirit of Brunnhilde. Her first appearance was in Avengers v1 #083. For much of her history she was a mainstay of superhero team known as the Defenders. Samantha Parrington, a previous host to Brunnhilde, later received the Valkyrie powers herself and became a member of the Defenders as Valkyrie (II).

Contents 1 Character Biography 2 Powers & Abilities 3 Weapons & Equipment 4 Ultimate Valkyrie 5 Known Enemies 6 Notes 7 In other media 8 External links

[edit] Character Biography

Brunnhilde was selected by Odin, king of the gods of the realm of Asgard, to lead the Valkyrior (the Choosers of the Slain), a group of warrior goddesses who would appear over the battlefields of mortal worshippers of the Asgardian gods and choose which of the fallen were worthy to be taken to Valhalla, the land of the honored dead. Brunnhilde served capably in this capacity for centuries.

According to a sentient, disembodied eye that once belonged to Odin, the Asgardian monarch once gave his son Thor the mortal identity of the warrior Siegmund. Circumstances forced Odin to decree that Siegmund must be slain. Brunnhilde, recognizing that Odin was acting against his true wishes, sought to protect Siegmund, but Odin himself then caused Siegmund's death. Brunnhilde helped Siegmund's pregnant lover, Sieglinde get to safety. As punishment for her defiance, Odin removed Brunnhilde's godly powers and immortality and cast her into a trance. She was eventually awakened by Siegfried, the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde and another mortal incarnation of Thor.

Brunnhilde and Siegfried became lovers. However, Siegfried fell under the influence of magic and betrayed her. He was later murdered, and Brunnhilde, still in love with him, leapt into his blazing funeral pyre.(This part of her background was based on the Volsunga saga.) Odin restored both of them to life, restoring their godly roles, powers, and near-immortality, but removing their memories of their earthly lives. (It is unclear how much truth, if any, there is to this account by the eye.)

Brunnhilde and her fellow Valkyries continued to gather heroic mortal warriors for Valhalla until roughly a millennium ago, when Odin was forced to cease virtually all intercourse with the Earth in accordance with a pact that he and the leaders of Earth's other pantheons of gods made with extraterrestrial Celestials. From then onward, the Valkyries could only choose slain heroes from among fallen Asgardian warriors. Brunnhilde was bitter over being barred from choosing warriors on Earth and roamed Asgard in pursuit of something meaningful to do.

In a tavern on the outskirts of Marmoragard, Brunnhilde encountered Amora the Enchantress, who offered her a life of adventure. For several weeks Brunnhilde accompanied the Enchantress on her conquests. Brunnhilde soon discovered Amora's immoral nature and tried to end their partnership. In response the Enchantress trapped Brunnhilde within a mystic crystal of souls. While Brunnhilde's body remained in suspended animation, her immortal soul became Amora's plaything. Over the centuries the Enchantress used Brunnhilde's spiritual essence to give the Valkyrie’s powers to herself or to her pawns. The Enchantress usually used her magic to alter the recipient's appearance to resemble Brunnhilde herself.

Valkyrie II
Valkyrie II (Samantha Parrington) by Carlos Pacheco
Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance Incredible Hulk volume II #142 (August, 1971) Created by Roy Thomas (writer), Herb Trimpe (artist)
Characteristics Alter ego Samantha Parrington Affiliations None, The Defenders Abilities super-strength, durability, long lifespan, centuries of combat experience, can convey spirits of the dead, can change from mortal form to Asgardian form.

Specific instances of Amora's exploitation of the Valkyrie before recent years are not yet known. The first time the Enchantress assumed the Valkyrie's physical aspect in recent years was in a plot to lead a handful of female superhumans against the male Avengers. Her true identity was discovered, however, and her plan thwarted. Months later, the Enchantress bestowed the Valkyrie's power upon a socialite named Samantha Parrington in an attempt to get revenge on the Hulk.

Finally, a woman driven mad by being trapped in another mystical dimension, Barbara Norriss, was given the Valkyrie's power and consciousness by the Enchantress to help her then-allies, the group of superhumans called the Defenders, escape from the clutches of the sorceress Casiolena. Amora did not undo her spell on Norriss after Casiolena's defeat. As a result, Norriss's body now possessed Brunnhilda's consciousness, appearance, and powers, while Norriss's own mental essence was trapped in Brunnhilde's real body in Asgard. However, thanks to partial amnesia induced by the Enchantress, Brunnhilde was unaware that she was not in possession of her real body and full memory. Indeed, while trapped in Norriss's body Brunnhilde personality lacked much of its usual strength of will.

It was not until a minor Asgardian warrior named Ollerus attempted to take over Valhalla that the Valkyrie’s two mixed aspects met for the first time. Brunnhilde’s mental essence trapped in Norriss’s transformed body, fought Norriss’s mental essence trapped in Brunnhilde’s real body. At the end of that encounter, the Valkyrie’s body, still possessed by Norriss’s mind was consigned to Niffleheim, the realm inhabited by the spirits of the non-heroic Asgardian dead, while Brunnhilde’s mind in Norriss’s transformed body accompanied the Defenders, who had made the other dimensional journey with her, back to Earth.

For reasons yet unknown, Brunnhilde was not concerned at this time about reuniting her mind with her true body. It was not until Barbara Norriss’s body was murdered that the Valkyries spirit and mind were inadvertently freed from their mortal host. With the help of Doctor Strange's magic, Brunnhilde regained her true body, which was rescued from Niffleheim by the Enchantress. Back in her real body, Brunnhilde regained her full memory and normal warrior personality as well. Brunnhilde then battled Amora and banished her to the crystal of souls. Feeling estranged from Asgard in general and Odin in particular for their neglect of her centuries-long plight, Brunnhilde chose to return to Earth with the Defenders. She had remained with them for several years.

Odin placed the dangerously powerful self-styled goddess Moondragon into Brunnhilde's charge. Brunnhilde was to teach Moondragon humility, and Moondragon served alongside Brunnhilde in the Defenders. Brunnhilde was to take action against Moondragon should she again become a menace. Eventually Moondragon reformed, but later she fell once again under the malevolent influence of the alien entity called the Dragon of the Moon. Moondragon attacked the Defenders, but Brunnhilde, given temporary additional powers by Odin for this occasion, including the power to grow to gigantic stature, opposed her. Brunnhilde summoned other Valkyries to her aid and together with two other Defenders, the Angel and Cloud, they defeated Moondragon. Moondragon escaped, however.

Months later Moondragon returned to attack the Defenders. During this encounter, her power was vastly augmented by the alien Beyonder. In order to defeat the Dragon, Brunnhilde and the Eternal called Interloper projected their immortal life forces against it. They were joined by Defenders member Andromeda and the Defenders’ former foe Manslaughter, for it was necessary that Brunnhilde’s and Interloper’s life forces pass through “mortal instruments” in order that Moondragon be defeated as well. Joining hands, the four allies hurled the tremendous power of their combined life forces at the Dragon, Moondragon, and the Gargoyle, whose body was now under the Dragons control. Three other Defenders went to rescue endangered innocents, and when they returned, Brunnhilde, Interloper, Andromeda, Manslaughter, Moondragon and Gargoyle had all seemingly been transformed into statues of ashes and dust, and the Dragon of the Moon was apparently gone.

Recently when Doctor Strange was on the brink of death, he was drawn (in his astral form) toward a realm of the afterlife. There he saw Brunnhilda, who had come to escort him into the hereafter. Strange, however, refused, and after considerable effort, returned to life in the mortal world. It’s unclear whether Brunnhilde herself was dead and appeared to Strange in her astral form, or whether she still lives in physical form. It’s clear, however, that she once more serves to escort the spirits of dead heroes into the hereafter. From Marvel Directory.com

Brunnhilde was restored to life by Doctor Strange, now in the host body of a woman known as Sian Bowen. The other Defenders, Interloper, Andromeda and Manslaughter were restored to life as well and they formed the Dragon Circle to battle the Dragon of the Moon. After the Dragon of the Moon was defeated, Brunnhilde returned to Asgard.

Meanwhile on Earth, Pluto and Lorelei restored the Valkyrie's powers within Samantha Parrington. Pluto tricked Lorelei though, erasing her memory, draining her powers and turning her into a duplicate of Valkyrie. While Samantha was used by Pluto to turn Earth into a realm of the dead, Lorelei was found by the Defender Nighthawk, who believed she was the real Valkyrie and made her a Defender, though she never spoke. When the Defenders tried to stop Pluto, Lorelei battled Samantha and was restored to her former self. Samantha was freed from Pluto's control and she became part of the Defenders again as Valkyrie.

Brunnhilde was killed in battle just before Loki's destruction of Asgard in Thor volume II #82, but Samantha Parrington still lives.

[edit] Powers & Abilities

Valkyrie is the strongest of all female Asgardians. Like all her people, her tissue and bone are about 3 times as dense as the mortal equivalent. Though she is not immortal, she ages far more slowly than humans. Valkyrie is immune to all terrestrial diseases and is resistant to most forms of injury. Her endurance peaks after one hour of exerting energy, at which point she begins to be fatigued, and her ability level drops. Valkyrie can perceive the approach of death, in the form of a "deathglow" surrounding a person's body. She doesn't know how death will come but she can tell that it is imminent.

Valkyrie can transport herself and a dying or dead body to and from the realm of the dead by willing it.

Valkyrie has had extensive training in sword fighting as well as unarmed combat and horseback riding. Her natural fighting ability is among the best of all Asgardian females, matched only by Sif.

Samantha Parrington can change from her mortal form into a copy of Brunnhilda's form. In this form, she has all the powers and skills that Brunnhilda has.

[edit] Weapons & Equipment

Valkyrie carries two weapons of choice.

• 1. An enchanted sword named Dragonfang. The blade was fashioned from a tooth of an extra-dimensional dragon.
• 2. An unamed iron spear.

Valkyrie rides a winged horse by the name of Aragorn. Aragorn was given to her by the current Black Knight.

[edit] Ultimate Valkyrie

Ultimate Valkyrie is a 19 year old girl who aspires to play the public role of super hero, despite having no actual powers or skills (she describes herself as a female Thor, only without the hammer, strength or weather-powers). She is a member of the Ultimate version of the Defenders, a group of similarly delusional, somewhat farcical, individuals. To date, her closest encounter with any sort of super hero or villain was her brief affair with Hank Pym, Giant Man/Ant Man. She also has a superhero fetish, asking Pym to dress up as Captain America in bed.

[edit] Known Enemies

Taaru The Terrible

[edit] Notes

• As stated above, Brunnhilde, the Valkyrie is based on the character of the same name in the Nibelungenlied (a story of the Poetic Edda). The story however had many incarnations; Richard Wagner's opera version of it (Der Ring des Nibelungen) shows a Brunnhilde the character's creators most likely have used for the conception of the Marvel persona.
• When Thor went insane with warrior madness, his insanity manifested as a woman, also called the Valkyrie. This Valkyrie had no relation to the regular Valkyries and had a different appearance.
• Valkyrie's winged horse, Aragorn was named after The Lord of the Rings character Aragorn.

[edit] In other media

Valkyrie appears as an NPC in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

[edit] External links

• MarvelDirectory.com Reference
• Classic Marvel Website
• Underworld Website
• Immortal Thor Website
• Comics.Org
• The Women of Marvel Comics Valkyrie Page