Lorelei (Asgardian)

Lorelei
Cover of Thor Vol 1. #359 with Lorelei, Loki and Thor Art by Walt Simonson.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Mighty Thor #337 (January 1984)
Created by	Walter Simonson
In-story information
Full name	Lorelei
Place of origin	Asgard
Team affiliations	Asgardians
Partnerships	Loki Pluto
Notable aliases	Melodi, Ice Queen, Valkyrie
Abilities	Lorelei possesses the conventional attributes of an Asgardian woman such as: Longevity Slow aging Superhuman strength, durability, endurance Immunity to all Earth diseases Powers via mystical abilities Seduces virtually any male god or mortal to do whatever she wants Some knowledge of sorcery, mostly love charms and potions

Lorelei is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. She is based on the being of the same name from Germanic mythology.

Publication history

Lorelei first appeared in Thor vol. 1 #337 (November 1983), and was created by Walt Simonson.

She made subsequent appearances in Thor vol. 1 #338-350 (December 1983-December 1984), Thor vol 1. #354-355 (April–May 1985), #357-359 (July–September 1985), #363 (January 1986), #367-368 (May–June 1986), Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe vol 2. #7 (June 1986), Thor vol 1 #383 (September 1987), #398-400 (December 1988-February 1989), #402 (April 1989), Black Knight Vol 2 #3 (August 1990), Thor vol 1 #438 (November 1991), #440 (December 1991), #476 (July 1994), #485 (April 1995), Journey into Mystery vol. 1 #509-511 (May–August 1997), Defenders vol. 2 #1-4 (March–June 2001), Loki #1 (January 2004), and Thor: Son of Asgard #5 (June 9, 2004).

Fictional character biography

In Asgard, Loki is bored, when he hears a noise coming from outside. He looks and sees warriors engaged in a forbidden Troll hunt. The Troll is hiding when it sees Lorelei, a beautiful woman, who offers to help hide it. When she gets close, she grabs it and hoists it up, winning the hunt with her feminine wiles and impresses the men. Loki invites Lorelei back to his castle and, despite Helgi's warnings, she accompanies Loki to his residence.^[1] She agrees to help Loki trick Sif into leaving, so Loki turns into Thor and the two kiss. When Sif finds them, she is furious and strikes them both to the ground before storming out. Lorelei wonders if she has made a mistake and Loki tells her that she will succeed where her older sister, Amora the Enchantress has always failed.^[2]

For the Love of Thor

Lorelei asks Loki to help her win Thor's love, he agrees and takes her to Manhattan if she agrees to perform a task for him in return. At Loki's direction, Lorelei travels to a dangerous district in New York City to hypnotize the dragon Fafnir into attacking Thor. Fafnir instead, hypnotizes Lorelei, and places her in a trap near the workplace of Thor's alter-ego, Sigurd Jarlson. Thor, as Jarlson, finds and rescues an unconscious Lorelei, and fights Fafnir until the dragon flees. Lorelei wakes up in Jarlson's arms before falling asleep again.^[3] Thinking she's mortal, Thor calls for an ambulance and before she is taken away, Lorelei makes it very clear that she is attracted to him and wants to thank him properly when she gets out. As the ambulance drives off, he realizes he didn't even get her name.^[4] Lorelei hears news that Fafnir is in New York on a rampage, wanting revenge, and begins destroying buildings. When Thor finally returns to New York, he battles Fafnir, killing him and returns to Jarlson's apartment. Lorelei uses the name 'Melodi' and visits Jarlson at his place, wanting to thank him for saving her life.^[5] He invites her in and while entertaining her, she offers him a back rub to which he accepts. As she works on him, she offers him some of her golden mead, which is really a love potion she concocted so the first person Jarlson sees he will fall in love with. Only he falls asleep and she finds it amusing, since she fell asleep on him the first time they met. She leaves, leaving him a note that she wants to cook dinner for him next weekend.^[6]

Melodi and Jarlson go on several dates, none of them end in Jarlson drinking her mead. At her apartment, she goes to slip into something more comfortable when Jarlson takes a phone call and suddenly has to leave, turning into Thor in a nearby alley. There is a knock on the door and when Melodi answers it, it's Malekith the Accursed, ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. He kidnaps her and leaves a duplicate Melodi to take her place. When Thor visits "Melodi", he drinks the mead, falling madly in love with her. Malekith reveals that the true Melodi was being held captive, and that Thor would have to bring him the Casket of Ancient Winters in order to save her.^[7] Thor, with the help of his mortal friend Roger Willis, storm Malekith's gates to rescue Melodi, but is defeated by Malekith and Algrim and is tossed out of the realm. Malekith, now with the Casket of Ancient Winters, presents Lorelei to his ally Wormwood and tells him he can do with her what he wishes.^[8] Only Thor returns with Willis, defeating Malekith, and rescuing Lorelei, kissing her passionately afterwards. Malekith still managed to open the Casket, so with winter raging around them, Thor, Lorelei, and Willis return to Earth. Willis questions how it is that Melodi recognized Jarlson as Thor. Lorelei makes up an excuse then kisses Willis in private, casting a spell on him that would stop him from questioning her anymore. She gives Thor more of the mead to drink to finally fall in love with the real her, not realizing that Willis had managed to replace it with an alternate drink. Meanwhile in Asgard, Odin notices Lorelei's deception but chooses to ignore it.^[9]

While battle wages between Midgard and Asgard against Surtur and the Sons of Muspel, Enchantress, aka Amora, appears in Lorelei's apartment, asking that they put aside their years of rivalry and enmity to help Asgard. Lorelei refuses, thinking Amora is trying to lead her into a trap. Amora vows revenge before disappearing.^[10] After the battle is over and Surtur along with Odin both disappear, Loki brings Lorelei back to Asgard to help comfort Thor in hopes that it will help Loki's bid to become Asgard's new ruler. He has her take the elixir of Lofn, which when Thor inhales it, it makes him fall so deeply in love with that he does whatever she says. Lorelei was tiring of Thor, but agreed to Loki's scheme only to help Thor become monarch himself so he would make her his queen.^[11] Amora appears and casts a spell on Odin's scepter, knowing that Loki will eventually pick it up. As revenge, Amora makes it to where when Loki did pick it up, when Lorelei next saw Loki, she fell madly in love with him. Amora believes that loving the heartless Loki would eventually destroy Lorelei emotionally.^[12]

Heimdall sees that Thor is under Lorelei's control, and devises a plan to save him. He has Amora urge Thor to visit Loki when she knows that Loki and Lorelei are in bed together. Seeing them together sends him into a rage, temporarily overcoming the spell. Thor hurls Mjolnir into the sky, and grabs Loki by the throat. Loki releases Thor from his spell and with Thor no longer in love with Lorelei, pushes her aside and leaves, leaving her to fawn over Loki.^[13] Loki grows tired of Lorelei, so he yells at her and tells her to fetch him a drink. Hurt, she goes to get him a drink and is stopped by Malekith. He offers her a "love potion" to add to Loki's drink that will ensure that Loki loves her in return. She takes it back and the potion knocks both Loki and Lorelei unconscious.^[14]

Amora tries to educate her sister on love and not to waste it after Daillus storms her castle to see if Lorelei is really as beautiful as everyone says and she turns him to stone.^[15]

Trip to Hel

Seth and his army close in on Asgard while Lorelei stands with Amora while her loyalty to Asgard is questioned. They learn that Heimdall has been injured and the Vizier is tending to his wounds and Amora rushes off in a fury, distressing Lorelei. Lorelei is determined to help Balder in battle against Seth and leaps in the way of projectiles meant for Balder. After Thor and Asgard are triumphant, Amora cradles her dying sister in her arms.^[16] Hela comes and takes Lorelei's soul away and possesses it in the Destroyer.^[17]

When Sif and Balder go to Hel to search for Thor's spirit, the Destroyer (not knowing it's Lorelei's soul) stops them, telling them that he has overthrown Hela and attacks them for having mortal forms. Sif and Balder use a Norn Stone to turn invisible and evade the Destroyer and discover Garm, who tells them that Hela freed the Destroyer from its crystal prison but a spirit possessed the armor before she could do anything and imprisoned Hela and Garm.^[18] Balder and Sif seek a mystic sword which can free Hela from her crystal prison but the sword is holding Gar-Toom prisoner. They get the sword, but they are now trapped between Gar-Toom and the Destroyer.^[19] The Destroyer easily destroys Gar-Toom while Balder races with the sword to free Hela. They finally learn that it is Lorelei who inhabits the Destroyer as she prepares to unleash its ultimate power of disintegration but accidentally collapses a wall on to herself and took minutes to free herself.^[20] Sif and Balder escape and Lorelei spends months in Hel battling the Great Beasts when Hela decides to allow Lorelei's spirit to go free and return to Hel to await future torture.^[21][22]

While in Hel, Lorelei is approached by Malekith while Hela is gone, and helps her plot to return to life and regain the love of Thor. She sends her vision to Thing, and convinces him to retrieve the love potion from her old apartment. When he does, Malekith uses his magic to mimic Lorelei and instructs Thing to drink the elixir and he falls in love with Lorelei. He then instructs Thing to battle Thor and Sif, but overcomes it when he tries to kill Sif and cannot, because it is not in his nature. From Hel, Malekith then calls forth his old ally, Kurse.^[23] In Asgard, Kurse beats his way past Heimdall, and dives all the way down to Hel, where he demands Malekith. Hela tries to stop him but he beats her easily, becoming the new master of Hel. Lorelei tells him that Malekith escaped to Earth, and he takes her there unaware that "Lorelei" is really Malekith in disguise and has tricked Kurse into helping him escape. Once there, Kurse sees Thor as Malekith and begins to attack him. As the new master of Hel and Nifleheim, Kurse calls forth dead monsters to destroy the one he believes to be Malekith.^[24]

Journey into Mystery

Seth restores Lorelei to life and pins her against her sister working alongside the Asgardian gods trying to recover their true identities. Although Amora is happy to see her sister return to life, Lorelei has been poisoned against her and is forced to believe that by killing Amora she can step out of her sister's shadow.^[25] Although overwhelmed by her sister and the other gods, Lorelei casts a concussive spell that knocks everyone around her into unconsciousness. Removing Amora from her restraints, Lorelei takes Amora into an adjacent realm to terrorize her, but Amora refuses to fight even as Lorelei abuses her. During her mocking, she reveals that Seth has created her from a mere shadow without any emotion or conscience. Upon hearing that, Amora begs Lorelei's forgiveness for not being a very good older sister, and releases her from Seth's spell, destroying her body.^[26]

Defenders

In Asgard, Pluto, Lord of Hades, approaches Lorelei promising her earthly power and dominion if she wields a spell to create a Valkyrie for him. Lorelei agrees to do so only because she wants to prove that she is better than her sister. She bonds a mortal, Samantha Parrington, who had previously been bonded to a Valkyrie by Amora, to become a Valkyrie subject to Pluto and Lorelei's commands. But Pluto manipulates the magic and transforms Lorelei into another Valkyrie also, with little memory and unable to speak and sends her to Earth. Valkyrie travels with Nighthawk and Hellcat to Canada where Lorelei and Samantha as the Valkyries fight each other while the Defenders, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Namor, Silver Surfer, Nighthawk, Hellcat, fight Pluto's minions. Their powers are equal and Lorelei is able to break Pluto's spell and returns to her natural form. She immediately attacks Pluto, and the two of them fight to gain control over the Valkyrie while the Defenders destroy Pluto's temple, allowing his denizens of the dead to begin pouring through to Earth. While the Defenders fight the dead, the Asgardian Valkyrior suddenly enter the fray to aid them. Faced with a renewed attack by the Defenders, Pluto and Lorelei continue fighting over control of Valkyrie, who soon break their spell and lash out against them. Zeus' vision appears above them, promising punishment. Pluto and Lorelei quickly teleport away rather than face Zeus' wrath.^[27]

Powers and abilities

Like all Asgardians, she is extremely long-lived, aging at an extremely slow rate upon reaching adulthood. Asgardian flesh and bone is about three times denser than similar human tissue, contributing to her superhuman strength, durability and endurance. She is also immune to all Earth diseases, and resistant to conventional injury.

Lorelei may have the potential for having mystical powers like her sister, but she has chosen not to develop it to the same extent. In battle against Seth and his minions, she was depicted as firing mystical force bolts, similar to her sister's.^[28] After being resurrected by Seth, her magical powers were greatly enhanced, even beyond those of her sister, and she retained these heightened abilities in later years, with her power being shown as equal to that of Pluto.^[29]

Lorelei's great beauty and seductive manner enable her to persuade virtually any male god or mortal to do whatever she wants. Lorelei has some knowledge of sorcery, mostly pertaining to love charms and potions. Lorelei also possesses a petrifying kiss, transforming victims into a granite statue.

Other versions

Lorelei from Loki

Lorelei controlling Thor, telling him to kill Valkyrie in Ultimates 3.
Art by Joe Madureira

Loki Triumphant

After Loki defeats Thor, reduces all the gods to their knees and becomes the new master of Asgard, Lorelei returns to the castle and wants payment for helping him achieve his newfound status. She is accompanied by many shadowy figures demanding their due for their part in making Loki master, but Loki grows bored listening to their demands and leaves.^[30]

Ultimates

Lorelei or Lani Ubana, is a member of the Swamp People inhabiting the Antarctic jungle known as the Savage Land. She received the power to hypnotize men after Magneto subjected her to a DNA-altering machine. Her powers are irresistible to males but have no effect on females. Lorelei becomes a member of the Savage Land Mutants (also known as Beast Brood), battling foes from the X-Men to Ka-Zar. She later joins Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and fights the Defenders.^[31] Her power lies in her voice, emitting hypersonic pitches that affect the sexual drives of males and mesmerizes them, getting them to do whatever she wants them to. She takes control over Thor when his back is turned and then commands him to kill his beloved Valkyrie for her. After the fight she returns with her team and together they return to the Savage Lands which is ruled by Magneto.^[32] She is taking care of the real Jamie Madrox when Wolverine kills her when he is trying to find the real Jamie.^[33]

Spider-Ham

Lorelei appears as villain Loreli Lemur. She hypnotizes the owners of some neighborhood pets only to have Spider-Ham battle her and he eventually defeats her.^[34]

In other media

Television

• Lorelei will appear in an upcoming episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., played by Elena Satine.^[35][36]

References

External links

• Lorelei at the Marvel Universe wiki
• Lorelei at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe